TL:DR – Eight Skiers Killed in Multiple Avalanches in the Austrian Alps
- Eight skiers killed in three avalanches across Austria on Saturday.
- Heavy snowfall last week was attributed to the incidents; officials cautioned visitors.
- Three Czech tourists buried in an avalanche in Styria; they were pronounced dead despite rescue efforts.
- Four other group members rescued and given medical treatment.
- Earlier, an avalanche near Salzburg claimed four lives and injured one individual.
- Recent fatalities highlight increased avalanche risks across the Alps in recent weeks.
Eight skiers die in series of avalanches across Austrian Alps | News World
Rescuers search for people buried by one of Saturday’s avalanches in the Salzburg Pongau region (Picture: AP)
### Avalanches Claim Lives of Eight Alpine Skiers
Avalanches killed eight Alpine skiers in three separate incidents across Austria on Saturday.
Heavy snowfall last week has been blamed for the series of avalanches, with local officials urging visitors to heed their warnings.
### Incidents in Styria
Three Czech ski tourists were swept away from their group of seven in the Murtal district of Styria, in central Austria, at around 4.25pm local time yesterday. The three visitors were completely buried, police said, before rescue teams were able to find and ‘partially extricate them.’
They added: ‘Despite immediate rescue efforts, the three individuals were confirmed dead. The four other members of the group, who were not caught in the avalanche, were rescued from the alpine terrain and given emergency medical treatment.’
Weather conditions meant the recovery of the bodies would be completed today.
### Additional Avalanche Incidents
A separate avalanche incident earlier on Saturday hit a group of seven skiers near the city of Salzburg, killing four and seriously injuring one. Mountain rescue officials said they were alerted to that incident at around 2pm local time.
An hour and a half earlier, a female skier was buried in another avalanche in the same part of the country. Local mountain rescue chief Gerhard Kremser said: ‘Our deepest sympathies go out to the families. This tragedy painfully demonstrates how serious the current avalanche situation is.’
### Rising Death Toll in the Alps
The three incidents add to a considerable death toll in the Alps over the past week. A 13-year-old Czech boy was killed in an avalanche while skiing in Austria’s Bad Gastein resort on Tuesday, while a 58-year-old skier died when another avalanche struck in Weerburg, western Austria, last Sunday.
Meanwhile, a German man was killed by an avalanche that injured four others while cross-country skiing in Switzerland on Friday. Additionally, six skiers died in avalanches at several Alpine resorts in France last weekend.