Austria avalanche: Schoolboy killed by avalanche while skiing with family as snow cripples parts of Europe
Death toll in weather-related incidents rises to 17
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A teenager has died in Austria after being caught in an avalanche while skiing, in the latest death caused by the severe weather gripping Europe.
Police officers said the Australian teenager died on Wednesday in the Alpine village of St Anton am Arlberg, where he was staying with his family.
The schoolboy had been skiing with his parents and brother when the family found themselves in an off-piste area covered in deep snow.
They contacted the emergency services but an avalanche swept the teenager for hundreds of metres before rescuers could arrive.
The unnamed boy’s 52-year-old mother was also caught up in the avalanche but managed to free herself from the snow without injury, according to local newspaper Tiroler Tagszeitung.
The teenager’s death brings the number of weather-related fatalities in Europe, reported over the last week, to 17.
Heavy snowfall continues to cause problems in Austria and southern Germany.
A seven-year-old child was killed in Aying, near Munich, by a falling tree, which police officers believe was weighed down with snow.
In Slovakia, authorities said a 37-year-old man was killed by an avalanche in the Mala Fatra mountains.
“In most skiing there is no reason for concern at present, if people keep to the rules and don’t leave the secured slopes,” said Elisabeth Koestinger, the minister responsible for tourism in Austria.
But several railway lines into the Alps remain closed because of snow and the weather has forced schools in parts of Bavaria to close.
In the Czech Republic around 9,000 households were without electricity on Thursday after heavy snow in regions bordering Germany and Austria.
Austrian public broadcaster ORF reported that the weather was expected to calm on Friday but further heavy snow could be expected on Sunday.
Additional reporting by agencies
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