Slide on Tuesday buried multiple skiers, and state troopers are attempting to reach site on Wednesday

An avalanche in Alaska backcountry swept up and buried three skiers under a blanket of snow that could be as deep as a 10-storey building, Alaska state troopers said on Wednesday.

While troopers have not been able to assess the site yet, “based on the information provided by the operator, unfortunately, we do not believe that any of the three missing persons survived the avalanche”, Austin McDaniel, a spokesperson for the Alaska state troopers, said in a text to the Associated Press.

If the deaths are confirmed it would be the deadliest US avalanche since three climbers were killed in a slide in Washington’s Cascade mountains two years ago.

The slide happened late on Tuesday afternoon near the skiing community of Girdwood, located about 40 miles (64km) south of Anchorage, said McDaniel.

“Troopers received a report of an avalanche that caught multiple individuals who were heliskiing yesterday afternoon near the west fork of 20 Mile River,” McDaniel said. “The company that they were skiing with attempted to recover the skiers but were unable to due to the depth of the snow.”