CHAMONIX, France (AP) – An avalanche swept down a major summit in the Mont Blanc range before dawn Sunday, leaving eight climbers missing and presumed dead along a trail often used to reach western Europe’s highest peak.

“There’s no chance of finding anyone alive,” French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said while visiting the area.

The avalanche was set off at around 3 a.m. by the fall of a massive block of ice on the Mont Blanc du Tacul, one of the peaks in the Mont Blanc range, at an altitude of some 11,800 feet, the Haute-Savoie regional government office said in a statement.

Authorities deployed a vast search mission, involving four helicopters, dozens of rescue workers, doctors, Alpine guides and sniffer dogs, said the statement.

The regional government at first said 10 climbers – including five Austrians and three Swiss – were believed missing, but that figure was lowered to eight after two Italians thought to be among them had already returned to Italy.

The search was suspended because of the risk that the warm weather could melt other ice blocks and trigger another slide, the statement and local police and government officials said.

Mont Blanc du Tacul is on one of the routes that climbers often use to reach the top of Mont Blanc, which is western Europe’s biggest mountain at 15,780 feet.

Mont Blanc du Tacul is usually scaled by seasoned climbers, who either want to reach its summit or carry on to the Mont Blanc peak. In summertime, they often climb through the night because cold temperatures keep the snow and ice hard, reducing the chance of sinking – and lowering the avalanche risk.