Rescuers backed by helicopters and dogs were scouring a mountainside in a ski resort in western Austria on Sunday after an avalanche buried several skiers on Christmas day, officials said Sunday.

The avalanche came down around 3:00 pm (1400 GMT) at an altitude of 2,700 metres (8,858 feet) in the Lech Zurz ski area, trapping some dozen skiers, police said.

"One person was able to be rescued, efforts continue to find the others," a police spokesman told AFP.

There was no information immediately available on the identity of the victims.

Officials had warned of high avalanche risk in the area over the weekend.

In recent years, avalanches in Austria have killed about 20 people on average each year.

 

                

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.