Italy avalanches kill 4 in 24 hours, including woman and 2 girls
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A skier in the Dolomite Mountains died Sunday after being struck by an avalanche, the fourth person to be killed in a 24-hour period in avalanches in the Italian Alps.
The skier was among a group of four people who were struck by the avalanche near a mountain refuge Sunday morning, Italian state TV reported.
On Saturday, a woman and two children who were skiing on a glacier in the Senales valley of Bolzano province were killed when they were struck by a wall of snow.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}One of the children, severely injured, had been taken by helicopter to a hospital. Italian RAI state TV reported the child later died.
Rescuers at work following an avalanche in Val Senales, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019. (ANSA via AP)
Both children were 7 years old, while the woman was the mother of one of them.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Two other skiers from the same group, a father and his 11-year-old son, were injured but not critically, the BBC reported.
An avalanche killed a woman and two children who were skiing on a glacier in the Italian Alps on Saturday. (ANSA via AP)
Alpine rescue corps spokesman Walter Milan said Saturday that three helicopters, including one from nearby Austria, were involved in a search for any other possible victims of the avalanche in the Senales Valley. There were no reports of missing skiers.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Milan said the risk of avalanches in the area has been high. Prosecutors are now investigating whether that slope should have been closed to the public that day, given a high risk of avalanches.
Rescuers at work following an avalanche in Val Senales, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019. (ANSA via AP)
"Our partners assessed the situation early in the morning and there was no danger," Thomas Stecher, director of the Val Senales Cable Car Company, told the La Repubblica newspaper. "If they had doubts, they certainly would not have opened the descent to the valley."
Four people have been killed in avalanches in a 24-period in the Italian Alps, which are teeming with tourists during the holiday season. (ANSA via AP)
Strong winds have raised the danger of avalanches in Italian Alpine ski areas, which are crowded with vacationers during the holidays. Another avalanche on Saturday injured a man in a valley in Bolzano province. Milan said he was rescued by fellow skiers.
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In Austria, a skier was found alive on Christmas Day after being burned by an avalanche under more than three feet of snow. The man was found more than two hours after authorities were first alerted and the rescue was dubbed a “Christmas miracle.”
Another avalanche in Switzerland the day after Christmas left two people injured. The avalanche occurred mid-morning Thursday while many holiday skiers enjoyed mountain sunshine the day after Christmas.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Lucia Suarez and the Associated Press contributed to this report.