Five skiers die in two avalanches in Austria

Five skiers have been killed in a pair of avalanches in the Austrian Alps on Saturday. 

An off-piste avalanche struck a group of seven skiers in the Pongau area near Salzburg, killing four, while two more were injured, one seriously, Austrian media reported. 

A third managed to escape unharmed. 

'This tragedy painfully demonstrates how serious the current avalanche situation is,' said Gerhard Kremser, district head of the Pongau mountain rescue service, noting the 'clear and repeated warnings' about the avalanche risk.

Four rescue helicopters, mountain rescue and Red Cross dog teams, and a crisis intervention team were rushed to the scene.

Around 90 minutes earlier in the nearby ski resort of Bad Hofgasteid, a female skier died after being buried under a snow slide. 

Her husband reportedly called in the incident, but efforts to reanimate her failed. 

The tragedy in Austria comes just five days after a 13-year-old was killed by an avalanche while skiing off-piste in alpine resort of Bad Gastein. 

The Czech teen was with another minor on Tuesday when the snow flurry swept him away at around midday, according to Bad Gastein's mountain rescue chief, Andreas Kandler.

Rescuers were unable to revive him.

It also follows a month marked by several avalanches across the Alps following several days of heavy snow. 

A 58-year-old ski tourer died last Sunday in an avalanche in the Tyrolean resort of Weerberg in the west.

Also, last week, six skiers died in France after being caught in several avalanches in various alpine resorts.

A British man in his 50s is among those killed in the French Alps over the weekend.

The Briton was skiing off-piste at the La Plagne resort in south-eastern France when rescue teams received an avalanche alert.

A team of 50 people, including medics, ski school instructors and helicopter-deployed piste dogs, were called in. 

The man was located after 50 minutes, buried under eight feet of snow, but could not be revived, the resort said in a statement on its website.

He was with a group when the avalanche struck, but was not equipped with an avalanche transceiver and was not with a professional instructor, it added.

Separately in France, a 32-year-old skier died in an avalanche in Vallorcine, Haute-Savoie, after being swept away by an avalanche over the weekend.

French weather forecasters had warned of a high risk of avalanches this weekend. Officials in the Savoie region recorded at least six avalanches in the department's ski areas on Sunday morning.

Gerhard Kremser, the mountain rescue chief in Pongau, central Austria this week urged winter sports enthusiasts to exercise caution above the tree line.