Two people have been killed and four people were left seriously injured after a large fire ripped through a building in a ski resort in the French Alps.

Twenty five people were hurt in total after the fire took hold of accommodation housing resort workers in Courchevel in the early hours of Sunday.

Seventy firefighters fought to contain the fire, with images showing the emergency workers attempting to rescue people from the three buildings affected.

The cause has not yet been confirmed, with officials adding that some of those affected were likely sleeping when the fire broke out.

Three of the four seriously injured were rushed to hospital by helicopter, local officials said.

Those killed have not yet been identified, said Frédéric Loiseau, a local government official.

“In the case of those seriously injured, it’s impossible to specify whether their injuries came from a fall. Because the fire was on the third floor, some people jumped to save their lives,” he told broadcaster BFMTV.

“There were carbon monoxide emissions, and there were burns.”

Police will launch an investigation into what started the fire, he added.