Two German tourists were killed Thursday in an avalanche while on a snowmobile tour in Norway, authorities said.

A helicopter carrying rescue personnel and a sniffer dog were dispatched to search for the missing pair, who were discovered dead in the Svalbard archipelago, about a thousand kilometres (miles) from the North Pole.

"Two German citizens are confirmed dead in an avalanche," the office of the Governor of Svalbard said in a statement. They had been on a snowmobile tour run by a Russian tour operator, about 15 to 20 kilometres (about 9 to 12 miles) south of Barentsburg, the second largest settlement on Svalbard, according broadcaster NRK.