Milan [Italy], February 8: Three people were killed on Saturday in avalanches while skiing off-piste in the northern Italian regions of Trentino Alto Adige and Lombardy, the Alpine rescue service said.
Two avalanches struck the Marmolada area in the Dolomites, close to Cortina d'Ampezzo, which is hosting the women's Alpine skiing competitions of the Milano Cortina Winter Games.
Rescuers recovered the body of a man who had been skiing off-piste with three others at Punta Rocca, a 3,300-metre peak on the Marmolada massif, the highest mountain in the Dolomites. The Alpine rescue service said the man died after being buried by snow he had triggered, despite his companions immediately beginning a search with assistance from other skiers before rescuers arrived.
In a separate incident, two off-piste skiers were killed in Albosaggia, a village in the lower Valtellina valley, about 65 kilometres east of Bormio, where the men's Alpine skiing competitions are being held.
The rescue service said it had not yet confirmed reports of a possible fourth victim in Trentino Alto Adige, where local media reported that a man injured in an earlier avalanche later died in hospital.
Heavy snowfall in the Alps in recent days has triggered several avalanches. Earlier this week, two Finnish skiers were killed in an avalanche in Trentino Alto Adige.
Source: Emirates News Agency
