Up to five skiers have been killed in an avalanche at a popular Austrian resort, a police spokesman has said.
A group of 12 skiers from the Czech Republic were buried on Saturday after the avalanche in the western Alpine region of Tirol, with rescuers now attempting to dig out the injured.
The group had been skiing in the Wattental valley, about 25 miles southeast of Innsbruck in western Austria. Earlier on Saturday, Tirol police spokesman Helmut Schuetz said “some” of the skiers had been killed but could not immediately confirm how many.
The avalanche occurred shortly after midday near a mountain in Lizumer Hütte, local media reported. The avalanche risk level in Tirol on Saturday morning was three out of a possible five, deemed “considerable”.
Austrian TV channel ORF said there were two ski groups from the Czech Republic caught up in the snowslide, including two guides. Helicopters and search dogs have also been deployed to rescue the injured.
Weather conditions saw a number of other smaller avalanches take place in the region on Saturday, after recent snowfall and a slight thaw in temperature.
Several deadly avalanches have occurred throughout the winter sports season, most recently killing six French Foreign Legion soldiers in the resort of Valfrejus on 18 January.
Four days earlier, two French teenage students and a Ukrainian tourist were also killed when a teacher took the students onto a closed skiing piste at the Deux-Alpes resort. The teacher, who was seriously injured was later charged with involuntary manslaughter.
In September, seven people were killed by an avalanche in the Massif des Ecrins, one of the country’s worst snowslides in a decade. The avalanche struck three groups of roped climbers on the 13,000ft mountain.
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Up to five skiers killed in Austrian Alps avalanche
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