VIENNA | A “dozen” winter sports enthusiasts were buried on Sunday in an avalanche in Austria in the Vorarlberg region (west), the police said.
“One person was rescued while the operation finds the others,” a spokesman told AFP, without giving further details on their fate.
Helicopters and several teams accompanied by dogs were mobilized for the search.
The avalanche was triggered around 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. Quebec time) at around 2700 meters above sea level in the Lech Zürz ski area.
No information was given on the identity of those affected.
Rescuers had warned this weekend of a high avalanche danger in this area and in neighboring Tyrol and pointed out the fragility of the snow cover in mild weather.
Snow slides have claimed an annual average of around twenty lives in Austria in recent years.