Nine killed in four separate Austrian avalanches, several people still missing

Four separate avalanches have claimed the lives of at least nine snowsport enthusiasts in western Austria in the past 24 hours, officials said on Saturday.

Austria’s Tyrol region, as well as Switzerland’s Alpine chain are on alarm level three, out of a scale of five, signifying elevated avalanche risk.

Rudi Mari, head of Tyrol’s avalanche warning service, said that, statistically, two-thirds of avalanches occur in these situations. “The statistical occurrences prove the danger posed by this level of warning.”

Eight of the deaths were on Friday, making it the deadliest avalanche day of the season to date.

On Saturday, at least one person was killed in Schmirn, in the province of Tyrol, police said. Another person was still missing.

In total, five people were buried by the avalanche, but three of them could already be rescued, police said, without giving further details on their identities or the accident.

Four people from Sweden and their local guide were killed on Friday in Tyrol, in the area of Spiss on the border with Switzerland.