Fatalities and injuries reported in avalanches across Tirol after prolonged snowfall and windy conditions
At least five people have been killed in a string of avalanches in Austria, authorities said on Saturday.
The government office of the Tirol region said intense snowfall over the last week had led to accumulations of up to 1.5 metres (5ft). Combined with strong winds and weak snowpack below, the conditions were especially susceptible to avalanches, it said.
Tirol police said five off-piste skiers were caught up in a nearly 450-metre-wide avalanche on Friday afternoon in the St Anton am Arlberg area at an altitude of about 2,000 metres.
An American and a Pole were among the five dead whose bodies were recovered after the avalanche, and a 21-year-old Austrian died of injuries after being taken to hospital, police said.
