VIENNA: Two people were killed in avalanches in the Austrian Alps on Saturday, bringing to seven the number of people killed in the country since Friday after heavy snowfall.
A 21-year-old Slovak was skiing off-piste “without avalanche safety equipment” when a “slab of snow broke off above him,” and killed him instantly, police in Styria province said.
Elsewhere in the Tyrol region, a 41-year-old Austrian was “swept away by the avalanche and completely buried,” regional police said on their website. The man later died in hospital after being rescued.
Experts had urged skiers to avoid off-piste slopes after five people — four in Tyrol and one in Vorarlberg — were killed Friday in avalanches triggered by a major snowstorm.
Twenty-four people have been killed this winter season in avalanches in Austria, a country popular for winter sports, according to an updated toll released Saturday.
Up to 40 centimeters (16 inches) of snow fell on the Alpine nation since Thursday, causing power outages and transport chaos.
A man was also crushed to death Friday by a snow plow that fell down a flight of stairs.