This screen grab shows the site of an avalanche that hit Gulmarg; (inset) Rescuers carry the body of a Polish national who dies in the avalanche on Wednesday. AFP

The skiing group was made up of Russian and Polish nationals and two local guides, police said.

A rescue operation was launched following the incident, Kashmir's police chief Vijay Kumar told Reuters, and two bodies were recovered. Police later said 21 skiers and two local guides had been accounted for.

The skiers were hit by the avalanche in the Affarwat area of Gulmarg, Kumar said, days after heavy snowfall in the hills of Kashmir.

Police identified the two Polish skiers as Krzysltof, 43, and Adam Grzech, 45. Their bodies have been moved to a hospital.

A video of the avalanche shared on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed a wall of snow roaring down a mountain side, sending skiers and other onlookers scurrying for safety.

Rescuers take the bodies of two foreigners killed in an avalanche in an ambulance in Gulmarg. AP

The Pirpanjal mountain range in the western Himalayas is a popular skiing destination for both Indians and foreigners.

In 2010, at least 17 Indian soldiers were killed after an avalanche hit the Indian army’s High Altitude Warfare School in Gulmarg during a training session.

Rescuers carry the body of the Polish national who died in an avalanche in Gulmarg. AFP

Avalanches and landslides are common in Kashmir and have caused heavy death tolls for the Indian and Pakistani armies camped near the mountainous and forested militarised Line of Control that divides Kashmir between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Agencies