Austrian Alps: Six dead as two avalanches hit two separate areas #avalanches #Austria

Six people have died after avalanches hit two separate areas of the Austrian Alps on Sunday, according to local authorities.

In the central Dachstein area, a location popular with hikers, five people were killed after an avalanche hit a snowshoeing group at 9.30am local time.

A second incident in the south-western Grosslockner area killed a police officer just a few hours later.

All five of the victims from the earliest incident are believed to be from the Czech Republic, and were said to already be dead by the time rescuers managed to reach them.

They had been hiking at an altitude of around 2,800m (9,180ft) when they were hit, Austria’s ORF broadcaster reported.

Meanwhile, the police officer, a 33-year-old from the country’s Carinthia region, had been undergoing Alpine training when he was caught up in the avalanche

The country’s interior minister Karl Nehammer later said the officer had “suffered such serious injuries that he died at the scene of the accident.”

Courtesy of Sky News

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