Eight skiers have sadly been found dead, and one is still missing, following a horror avalanche in the northern California mountains, authorities have said.

The avalanche hit the Castle Peak area of Truckee in California about 10 miles (16km) north of Lake Tahoe, at around 11.30am local time on Tuesday. The weather phenomenon swept over a group of backcountry skiers, and six people were rescued after becoming trapped. Authorities continued searching for nine missing individuals on Wednesday morning local time, and have now confirmed eight deaths with one person still unaccounted for.