text: A seven-year-old British boy has fallen 160ft to his death from a cliff in the Alps after becoming separated from his family on a skiing holiday. Carwyn Scott-Howell got lost on the slopes and left the piste before walking through a treacherously steep wooded area, according to a source. The Welsh schoolboy, who was formally named by police today, was holidaying in the French resort of Flaine with his mother Ceri, elder brother Gerwyn, 19, and nine-year-old sister Antonia when the accident took place. A seven-year-old British boy has died after getting separated from his parents on a family skiing holiday in the French resort of Flaine near Geneva (pictured above). He fell down a 160ft cliff after trying to find his parents . Police are still trying to piece together the tragic sequence of events, but they believe the little boy was killed instantly in the fall on Friday after leaving the marked ski slope to look for his family. Investigators are unsure how he came to be at the top of the steep 320ft-high cliff, which overshadows the Lac de Flaine. One theory is that he wandered away from a blue run to try to find his family, while there has also been speculation that he may have fallen off one of the ski resort's lifts. His frantic family began searching for him at around 4pm. They scoured the piste and, increasingly worried, alerted the piste patrol who launched a search. At around 6pm search and rescue workers discovered his tracks in the snow leading through woodland up to the top of the cliff, where they found his abandoned skis. He was then spotted by rescuers in a helicopter, and they recovered his body at around 7.30pm from the bottom of the cliff. The area was described as a 'dangerous, out-of-bounds area' by emergency services, who said rescuers had to be winched down from a helicopter to retrieve the body. The conditions in the French ski resort of Flaine (pictured) were clear and sunny but it is believed the boy ventured off-piste while trying to find his parents. Police found tracks in the snow which led to his body . Michel Ollagnon, an officer with the Bonneville mountain rescue service, told reporters that the boy had been skiing with his mother, brother and sister, but he had asked to ski alone for his last descent of the day. He said the boy had then fallen off a rocky outcrop after apparently losing his way. Police chief Patrick Poirot, the head of the mountain rescue division in Annecy, added: 'His family were on the piste and then they could not see him. 'They looked for him but couldn't see him anywhere on the piste. They went to the piste patrol and said: 'Our child has disappeared' and a search was started. 'At about 6pm some tracks were discovered in the snow. It was in a very dangerous, out-of-bounds area. The tracks led to the little boy's skis. 'They were there in the snow at the top of a cliff. It was very dangerous. The piste patrol could not go down the cliff. So they called a helicopter but it could not land. They spotted the boy and rescuers were then winched down but the child was dead. It was now about 7.30pm.' He added: 'Hypothetically we think that the little boy didn't know where to go and skied in the wrong direction. He's just seven years old. 'He left the marked ski slope and probably skied to the top of a cliff. He then stopped, removed his skis, walked a little way and then fell. 'He fell 50 metres. Specialists are now at the scene to try and determine exactly what happened and understand every element that led to this tragedy.' Resort boss Sylvain Philippe, director of the Societe du Domaine Skiable de Flaine, said: 'The whole resort has been affected by the death of this young boy. We are thinking above all of his family. 'An enquiry into his death has started to find out the exact circumstances of what happened. Unfortunately and sadly they confirmed that his body was found off piste in an area of the resort called Aujon. 'He was very far from the piste, it's not a skiable area. He was unfortunately found in the middle of the cliffs, everyone has been very affected by it. 'We're working with the police and the family on this and we will be helping the family for as long as they need.' Carwyn's mother Ceri lives with her husband Rhys in the Brecon Beacons where the pair run the award-winning Coity Bach Farm near Talybont-on-Usk. The farm rents out its 'four-star gold award' self-catering cottages to visitors and is well known for its prize-winning speciality sausages. David Cameron was once pictured buying scotch eggs from the couple's stand at an agricultural show in Wales in July 2014. On the Coity Bach website it tells how ex-nurse Ceri and former butcher Rhys bought the farm to live out their dream of growing their own food and living 'the good life'. Last night, relatives at the farm were too upset to speak, but a neighbour told of the village's shock. 'It's extremely sad – they are a loving family and he was a smashing lad,' said one neighbour, who did not want to be named. They went on to say: 'I haven't even broken the news to my own children yet, it's just too shocking.' Another added: 'Ceri is a great mum and they're well-loved in the village. We will all rally round her when they return from France.' An assistant from Ski Set, a shop in the resort where the family had hired some of their equipment, said: 'They loved skiing. They said that they had been to lots of ski resorts before. 'They were a very nice family. The little boy seemed just happy to be on holiday. They had been on holiday for a week. He was good enough for a seven-year-old. He wasn't a beginner.'
target: Seven-year-old boy has died on family skiing holiday in Flaine, French Alps .
  Police believe Carwyn Scott-Howell fell to his death after leaving ski slope .
  It is understood he was looking for his parents when he took a wrong turn .
  Got lost on piste and fell down cliff after taking off skis to try and find them .