TRAGIC ACCIDENT

Avalanche Tearing Through Italian Alps Leaves Five Dead

Among the dead was a man and his 17-year-old daughter.

Five tourists are dead after they were caught in an avalanche in the Italian Alps on Saturday. The five mountaineers from Germany were killed in South Tyrol, a popular region for climbers and tourists, near Cima Vertana in the Ortles mountains at an altitude of about 11,500 feet, The Independent reported. The incident occurred around 4 p.m. on Saturday. Three bodies were recovered that day, while the final victims—a man and his 17-year-old daughter—were found Sunday morning. Two men survived the avalanche and were airlifted to a nearby hospital. “They had been dragged to the lower part of the gully where the avalanche occurred,” Alpine rescue spokesman Federico Catania told the outlet. “Rescue teams are now returning to the valley, also considering the worsening weather conditions at high altitude.” Avalanches have long plagued the Italian Alps, which count among Europe’s deadliest skiing regions over the past decade, according to NPR.