Five people died in two avalanches in Austria on Saturday, a spokeswoman for the mountain rescue service in the province of Salzburg reported, quoted by DPA, reports News.bg.
The worst incident occurred in the afternoon on the Finsterkopf peak (2,150 m) in the Grossarl valley, where an avalanche buried a group of seven skiers. According to rescue teams, four of them were found without signs of life, while the other three were seriously injured and taken to hospital.
Earlier in the day, a woman died in a separate avalanche in the Bad Hofgastein area. The nationalities and ages of the victims and injured in both cases have not yet been established.
The mountain rescue service warns that the avalanche situation remains extremely unstable. Fresh snow is poorly connected to old snow layers in the higher parts, which significantly increases the risk of new landslides.
Around 90 mountain rescuers, medical teams and several helicopters participated in the rescue operations, which assisted in the search, removal of bodies and transportation of the injured.
After a long period without precipitation, between 20 and 50 centimeters of new snow have accumulated in the Austrian Alps in recent days. In addition, in two other off-piste skiing incidents, a young Czech man and another man of unknown identity have died.
The authorities have again called on skiers, especially those off-piste, to exercise increased caution due to the high avalanche risk.