A Ukrainian family seeking asylum in Switzerland was rescued from a mountainside near the border with Italy, from where they were trying to cross the Alps, Swiss media reported.

A mother and her five children aged between 9 and 21 years were rescued on Sunday from the slopes of the 1620-metre Monte Lema peak, local news agency SDA said.

The family, lightly clothed and with some of the members barefoot, had probably been wandering around in the heavily snowed-in area since Friday evening.

Police are investigating whether the six had been brought across the border by a smuggling gang.

Rescue workers were alerted by a radio amateur, who picked up calls for help from the family, who were carrying a walkie-talkie, media said.

None of their lives were in danger, but a 9-year-old child risked having a foot amputated.

Rescue workers, who saved the six as dusk fell, said they would not have survived another night in the open.