Avalanche on a Slovenian mountain kills 1 hiker and leaves 2 missing

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Rescue teams in Slovenia found the body of one of three mountaineers from neighboring Croatia who were swept away Sunday in an avalanche, police said.

The three were part of a group of seven mountaineers heading up the Tosc Mountain in northwestern Slovenia, local media reported. When four people in the group decided to take a break earlier on Sunday, the remaining three continued and were caught in the avalanche, the official Slovenian STA news agency reported.

Police in nearby Kranj said that the search operation had been suspended for the day and will resume on Monday.

Rescue official Klemen Belhar earlier told Croatia’s public broadcaster HRT that search efforts were hampered by rain, snow and risk of more avalanches. Rescue service said they could not use a helicopter because of bad weather.

“Conditions are not good, it is snowing hard and it is cold,” he said.

Slovenia has been hit by a spate of cold weather that brought early snow, winds and low temperatures. The small central European nation is a popular mountaineering destination.

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