Avalanches in the Italian Alps kill at least 5 skiers

ROME – Rescuers have found the bodies of three skiers in Italy’s Alps and are searching for a fourth, raising the death toll in recent avalanches in the country to at least five.

The Valdostano Alpine Rescue aircraft on Monday, searching for two British and two French skiers who were reported missing a day earlier, spotted three bodies. Dogs were helping in the search. RAI state radio says the missing skier is French.

On Sunday, two Italian skiers were killed by avalanches — one in the Valle d’Aosta region, the other in the Alto Adige (South Tyrol) region.

Authorities had warned that avalanche danger was high in the Italian Alps over the weekend.

In a non-avalanche fatality, an Italian snowboarder died in a fall in a crevasse Sunday in an off-piste area in the Valtellina Alpine area of Lombardy.