At least five people have died in an avalanche in Austria, officials said on Saturday.
A government office in the Tyrol region said heavy snowfall had accumulated up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) in the past week. Combined with strong winds and weak snowpack, conditions are particularly prone to avalanches, it said.
Five off-piste skiers were trapped in an avalanche about 450 meters wide on Friday afternoon in the St. Anton am Arlberg area at an altitude of about 2,000 meters, Tirol police said.
An American and a Pole were among five people whose bodies were recovered after the avalanche, and a 21-year-old Austrian died of his injuries after being taken to hospital, police said.
Dozens of mountain-rescue team members, ambulance and fire department personnel, as well as several dog squads were deployed for the operation.
A 42-year-old German man and his 16-year-old son were trapped in an avalanche in the southeastern resort of Nauders-Bergkastel on Friday morning. The young man survived his injuries and called for help, but his father was killed.
In Klosterle, in the neighboring Vorarlberg region, a 39-year-old Swiss snowboarder was caught and killed by an avalanche in an off-piste area, regional police said.
“Recent snowfall is currently attracting many people to the mountains – even off-piste,” Tirol Governor Anton Mattil said in a statement. “It is sad that we have already recorded several avalanches with injuries and deaths.”
About three dozen avalanche incidents were reported on Friday, his office said, adding to more than 200 in the past week. So far this month, 11 people have died due to avalanches, the governor’s office said.
“There is no sign of relief even on Sunday,” the region office said. “The weather is turbulent.”
