A 40-year-old man has been charged with manslaughter after a five-year-old British girl was killed in a “high-speed” skiing crash in Switzerland.

The man, who has not been identified, was charged on Monday afternoon, just over 48 hours after the accident.

“He is a 40-year-old man from Haute-Savoie. He is a regular at the resort. He has been placed under judicial control,” said the prosecutor.

The child, thought to be from a British expat family living in Geneva who were on holiday at their second home near the Flaine resort, was part of a group lesson skiing on an easy “blue” slope.

The class of five children was following an instructor from the national ski school, the Ecole du Ski Français, down the wide Serpentine piste when the incident happened at about 11am on Saturday morning.

The prosecutor overseeing the investigation said: “The child was in a single file behind the group and was about to make a right turn when she was very violently hit by the skier arriving at high speed, who tried in vain to avoid her.”

The man made efforts to revive the girl, and was reportedly aided by a doctor at the scene, but they were unsuccessful. She died while being taken to hospital in a helicopter.

Upmarket Flaine is part of the Grand Massif ski area in the French Alps, which is known for its suitability for young and novice skiers due to a large number of gentle blue slopes.