Eight people die in avalanches in the Austrian Alps

2026-01-18 18:16:19Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Eight people die in avalanches in the Austrian Alps

An avalanche killed three Czech skiers in central Austria, bringing the death toll in the country's Alps to eight on Saturday. Avalanches across the Alps have claimed several lives since last week after heavy snowfall.

An avalanche swept away three of a group of seven Czech skiers in the Murtal district of Styria province, completely covering them, police said in a statement.

"Emergency teams managed to locate and partially extract the covered victims," ??they added.

"Despite immediate rescue efforts, the three people were found dead."

Earlier on Saturday, in the Pongau area near Salzburg, an avalanche hit another group of seven skiers off the piste, killing four of them and seriously injuring another.

That same day, another avalanche swept a skier off the piste in the same area.

"Despite clear and repeated warnings, avalanches occurred again today, unfortunately with fatal consequences," said Gerhard Kremser, head of the mountain rescue service in Pongau.

"This tragedy painfully demonstrates the seriousness of the current avalanche situation," he added, according to The Guardian.

On Tuesday, an avalanche killed a 13-year-old Czech skier who was moving off-piste in the Austrian alpine resort of Bad Gastein.

Last Sunday, a 58-year-old skier lost his life in an avalanche at the Weerberg resort in western Austria.

In neighboring Switzerland, a German man was killed by an avalanche and four other people were injured while skiing in open terrain on Friday.

Last weekend in France, six skiers died after being caught in avalanches at several alpine resorts.


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