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Two people died after being trapped in a large avalanche in northern Italy, the country’s mountain rescue service said.
Three other people were seriously injured and two suffered minor injuries after crossing the busy high mountain slopes.
The incident occurred at an altitude of about 2,400 meters (7,874 ft) on the slopes of the 2,669 meter (8,757 ft) Hohe Ferse (also known as Monte Tallone Grande) mountain near the town of Ratschings, near the border with Austria.
A total of 25 skiers were trapped in an avalanche in the South Tyrol region on Saturday morning.
The CNSAS rescue service has not detailed whether the other 18 people were trapped or rescued and what injuries they suffered, if any. However, according to the Italian news agency ANSA, most of them “were only grazed and not swallowed by the snow”.
The agency’s report said the avalanche had a speed of “150 m and was several hundred meters long”.
A massive rescue operation was launched when six helicopters and around 80 rescue staff from CNSAS, the Alpine Association, police and firefighters, as well as sniffer dogs, were sent to the scene.
This is the latest event in what the European Avalanche Warning Service (EAWS) describes as an unusually high number of avalanches on the continental slopes this season.
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A total of 127 people died on March 16, including 33 of them Italy31 inches France and 29 inches Austriacompared to an annual average of 100, EAWS said.
In early February, a record 13 people died on Italy’s slopes in one week.
Last month, two Englishmen skier dies in avalanche in France.
The high number of deaths was caused by highly unstable snowpack and the large number of skiers traversing off-piste slopes after recent heavy snowstorms, experts said.
Rising temperatures and strong winds, seen as causal factors, are the result of climate change, climate experts say.
The avalanche danger in the Ridanna Valley, where the latest avalanche occurred, is currently rated as moderate.
