Austria Avalanches Kill Seven: Police

A 21-year-old Slovak was skiing off-piste "without avalanche safety equipment" when a "slab of snow broke off above him," and killed him instantly, police in Styria province said.

Elsewhere in the Tyrol region, a 41-year-old Austrian was "swept away by the avalanche and completely buried", regional police said on their website. The man later died in hospital after being rescued.

Experts had urged skiers to avoid off-piste slopes after five people -- four in Tyrol and one in Vorarlberg -- were killed Friday in avalanches triggered by a major snowstorm.

Twenty-four people have been killed this winter season in avalanches in Austria, a country popular for winter sports, according to an updated toll released Saturday.

Up to 40 centimetres (16 inches) of snow fell on the Alpine nation since Thursday, causing power outages and transport chaos.

A man was also crushed to death Friday by a snow plough that fell down a flight of stairs.

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.

In Klösterle in the neighboring Vorarlberg region, a 39-year-old Swiss snowboarder was caught and killed by an avalanche in an off-piste area, regional police said.

“The recent snowfall is currently drawing many people to the mountains – even off-piste,” Tyrol governor Anton Mattle said in a statement. “It is painful that we have already had to record several avalanches with injuries and fatalities.”

His office said nearly three dozen avalanche incidents were reported on Friday, among more than 200 over the last week. So far, 11 people have lost their lives in avalanches this month, the governor’s office said.

“No relief is in sight for Sunday either,” the region office said. “The weather remains turbulent.”