Five skiers killed as huge avalanche buries dozens in Austrian Alps

Five skiers form the Czech Republic have been killed in an avalanche at a popular resort in the Austrian Alps, local police say.

The victims were part of a group of 17 skiers from the Czech Republic who were caught up in a snowslide triggered by a 2km-wide avalanche in Wattental valley in the western Alpine region of Tirol. Two people were injured but out of acute danger, while 10 others survived unharmed, police said.

Rescue workers with dog teams, assisted by helicopters, were deployed to rescue the injured. Some of the skiers managed to dig themselves out while others were rescued.

The experienced Czech skiers were taking part in a so-called “freeride camp” and had been repeatedly warned about the avalanche danger by locals, according to regional TV station ORF.

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”.

Weather conditions saw at least 19 avalanches reported in Tyrol on Saturday, after recent snowfall and a slight thaw in temperature. There were no other fatalities, but several people were reported injured.

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.