Five people killed and one injured after avalanche hits Austrian Alps

The identities and nationalities of the victims have not yet been revealed as was said to be an unusually dangerous day in the Alps in Austra’s Tyrol province after heavy snowfall was followed by warmer weather

Five people have been killed in an avalanche in the Austrian Alps today.

It was said to be an unusually dangerous day in the Alps, in Austra’s Tyrol province, after heavy snowfall was followed by warmer weather.

A rescue official said today: “Unfortunately, five people lost their lives.”

The fifth victim was initially reported as missing but later confirmed as dead.

A sixth person is said to have suffered minor injuries, the local emergency control centre confirmed on Friday afternoon.

The identities and nationalities of the victims have not yet been revealed.

It is not yet known whether they were skiing or taking part in another activity.

At least 31 separate avalanches were reported today, officials said.

Four of them have left people injured – including one which swept down a ski piste at the resort of Soelden, where five people have been rescued, said the supervisor of Tyrol’s emergency services control centre, Patrick Ortler.

Rescue helicopters from Switzerland and Austria were deployed to the scene near.

More than 50 avalanches were recorded in the region within 48 hours.

Weather services had urged caution after a number of snowfalls this week.

About 20 people have been killed each year by avalanches in Austria, however, the past two seasons have been less deadly due to the reduced number of skiers in the coronavirus pandemic.

Last January , a British chef was killed in an avalanche while skiing off piste in the Swiss Alps.

The 38-year-old, named by friends as Jamie Clark, was a budding chocolatier who had been living at least seasonally in Verbier for much of the last decade.

Originally from Doncaster in South Yorkshire, Mr Clark was among 10 people that were swept away from the slopes at the popular alpine resort, to the east of Geneva.

Eight escaped uninjured, local police said, while one was flown to hospital with serious injuries.

The avalanche occurred outside the piste between the Verbier ski area and ‘Les Attelas’ while the risk was three out of five, meaning “considerable” danger.