An avalanche has killed three Czech skiers in central Austria, police said, bringing the total number of deaths in the country's Alpine regions to eight on Saturday, the British newspaper The Guardian reports today.
Avalanches across the Alps have been claiming victims since last week, following heavy snowfall.
An avalanche swept away three of a group of seven Czech ski tourists in the Murtal district of the Styria province and completely buried them, police said in a statement.
"Rescuers were able to locate and partially exhume the buried victims. Despite urgent rescue efforts, three were found dead," the statement added.
Earlier on Saturday, in the Pongau area near Salzburg, an avalanche hit another group of seven skiers who were skiing off-piste, killing four and seriously injuring another person, media reported, citing rescuers.
Earlier on Saturday, another avalanche swept away a skier who was skiing off-piste in the same area.
"Despite clear and repeated warnings, numerous avalanches still occurred today - unfortunately with deadly consequences," Gerhard Kremser, district head and head of the mountain rescue service in Pongau, was quoted as saying.
"This tragedy painfully demonstrates the seriousness of the current avalanche situation," he added.
On Tuesday, an avalanche killed a 13-year-old Czech boy who was skiing off-piste in the Austrian Alpine ski resort of Bad Gastein.
Last Sunday, a 58-year-old ski tourer died in an avalanche in the Tyrolean resort of Verberg, in western Austria.
In neighboring Switzerland, a German man was killed in an avalanche and four others were injured while cross-country skiing on Friday.
Last weekend in France, six skiers died after being caught in avalanches at various Alpine ski resorts.
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