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WEATHER

Avalanche kills four skiers in Valais Alps

The death toll from an avalanche that swept away a group of Italian skiers in the Swiss Alps has risen to four after a man died from his injuries, police said on Sunday.

Avalanche kills four skiers in Valais Alps
The avalanche buried five people. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

The man was part of the group hit by an avalanche on Saturday while in an area of the Swiss Alps in the canton of Valais known as "Death Valley."

Two women and two men were killed while a fifth skier was wounded.

A sixth member of the group was not swept away and escaped unharmed.

All of those involved were either 51 or 52 years old and from the Milan region.

They were skiing cross-country near a guesthouse in the Great Saint-Bernard Pass, not far from the Italian border, when a massive sheet of snow dislodged and swept them away.

The accident happened at an altitude of around 2,300 metres, and weather conditions and thick fog complicated the rescue operation.

Rescuers managed to locate the skiers, who were all carrying avalanche victim detectors. Some were buried under as much as 2.5 metres (eight feet) of snow.

Avalanches are taking a heavy toll in the Swiss Alps this winter season, killing at least 25 people, including Saturday's deaths.

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SKIING

Two skiers killed in Swiss avalanche

Two cross-country skiers have been killed in an avalanche near the plush resort of Klosters in southeast Switzerland, police said Saturday.

Two skiers killed in Swiss avalanche

The accident happened on Friday, the Graubunden regional police said.

“In the Schintersiten area they took a slope with a steep gradient,” a police statement said.

“Several avalanches broke out and dragged the two men about 200 metres down the rocky terrain.

“As a result, both the 54-year-old and his 57-year-old companion, both of whom lived in the canton of Bern, were fatally injured.”

The Graubunden public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation alongside the cantonal police.

Before Friday’s accident, 12 people had lost their lives in avalanches in Switzerland since October 1 last year, according to statistics from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.

A total of 142 avalanche-related accidents have occurred, with 188 people swept away.

Earlier this month, six cross-country skiers went missing in a storm near the southern luxury resort of Zermatt. The group, aged 21 to 58, included five members of the same family.

Five bodies were recovered and the search for the sixth person was ultimately called off.

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