At least nine people died in three days in Austria due to more than 100 avalanches, a situation "without precedents"authorities reported on Sunday.
"In the last three days there have been a hundred avalanche-type incidents that have required 70 interventions", regional authorities in the Tyrol region said on Sunday.
A situation "without precedents", as described by the authorities, who warned that more will be produced.
Most of the avalanches were recorded in the western Tyrol region. Five people died on Friday alone, rescue services said.
According to police, the incident claimed the lives of a group of Swedish skiers who had gone off-piste with a mountain guide in the Ischgl area, near the Swiss border.
The monitor and four members of the group were swept away by the snow, and only one of them survived. He managed to call for help and was airlifted out.
On the same day, a 60-year-old man and his 61-year-old wife were buried in snow while cross-country skiing near the town of Auffach, Tyrol police said.
On Saturday, a 58-year-old Austrian died in Schirmn, near Innsbruck, from an avalanche that injured four others.
Further west, a 43-year-old experienced skier in the Vorarlberg region died in similar conditions.
Five winter sports fans were also buried in a snowfall at the major resort of Soelden, but all were rescued.
In recent years, avalanches have claimed around 20 lives a year in Austria, though fewer in the last two years after the pandemic greatly reduced the number of skiers.