22/02/2026
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22/02/2026
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VIENNA, Austria, Feb 22, (AP): At least five people have been killed in a string of avalanches in western Austria, authorities said Saturday.
The government office of the Tyrol region said intense snowfall over the last week led to accumulations of up to 1.5 meters (5 feet). Combined with windy conditions and weak snowpack below, the conditions were especially susceptible to avalanches, it said.
Tyrol police said five off-piste skiers were caught up in a nearly 450 meter- (about 490 yards) wide avalanche Friday afternoon in the St. Anton am Arlberg area at an altitude of about 2,000 meters (about 6,500 feet).
An American and a Pole were among the five recovered dead after the avalanche, and a 21-year-old Austrian died of injuries after being rushed to hospital, police said.
Dozens of mountain-rescue team members, ambulance and fire department staffers, as well as several dog squads, were deployed for the operation.
Late Friday morning in the Nauders-Bergkastel resort to the southeast, a 42-year-old German man and his 16-year-old son were caught in an avalanche. The teen survived with injuries and called for help, but his father was killed.
