Lorenzo Bacci was playing with friends on Saturday when he stepped away from the group and slipped down an escarpment, in the La Thuile area of north-west Italy. Rescuers were unable to save the seven-year-old, La Stampa said.
Bacci was visiting the area from his home in Milan and had just completed a ski competition when the accident happened.
His parents have for years visited the mountainous area close to the French border, where they have a home, the newspaper reported.
The boy’s death is the latest in a series of such tragedies in the Italian mountains.
Last month, avalanches killed four people in just one weekend, with the victims including a 17-year-old boy from the Lombardy region. The adults who lost their lives came from Italy, the Netherlands and the UK.
In January, an avalanche killed a man ski-touring with a group, while two other people fell to their deaths.
Safety concerns this month prompted Lombardy’s regional council to introduce charges for mountain rescue. The move was said to not only help cover costs, but promote responsible tourism.
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