[SUP]A helicopter of the Swiss civil defence takes off during the rescue operation near the Grand Saint-Bernard pass.[/SUP]
Three Italians were killed and two more injured when they were hit by an avalanche while skiing in an area known as Death Valley in the Swiss Alps on Saturday, police said.
Two women and one man died in the accident, while one man remained in serious condition and another man had slight injuries, police in the canton of Valais said.
The five were skiing cross-country near a guesthouse in the Grand-Saint-Bernard pass, not far from the Italian border, when a massive sheet of snow, measuring 80 metres across and up to 300 metres long dislodged and swept them away.
The accident happened shortly after 1pm at an altitude of about 2,300 metres.
Weather conditions and thick fog complicated the rescue operation, police said.
Rescue helicopters were forced to land further away from the avalanche site, and rescuers had to go the rest of the way on foot, police spokesman Jean-Marie Bornet told AFP.
The rescuers were able to locate the skiers, thanks to the avalanche victim detectors – small electronic transceivers – they were carrying. Some of the skiers were buried under as much as 2.5 metres of snow.
Four were found to have been seriously injured and were taken by helicopter to nearby hospitals, where three of them died.
“The fourth is undergoing resuscitation, so it’s quite serious,” Bornet said.
About 30 rescue workers and several helicopters took part in the operation, police said.
Avalanches are taking a heavy toll in the Swiss Alps this winter season, having killed at least 24 people including Saturday’s deaths, according to a count by Swiss news agency ATS.
