Weekend Orthodoxs Leave 10 People Dead in Austria, Switzerland

Ten people have lost their lives over the weekend in several avalanches in the Austrian and Swiss Alps.

Tourists from New Zealand, China and Germany were among the dead in a number of different ski resorts.

Austrian authorities set a fourth-level alert to avalanches the second largest following intense snow and wind rains in the area.

Despite warnings, the ski resorts in western Austria have been packed due to school holidays in Vienna, reports the BBC, broadcast Klankosova.tv.

Austrian police announced five deaths Sunday, including that of a 59-year-old who was using snow shovels in the western region of Tirol.

They also found the bodies of a ski guide in Sankt Anton am Arlberg and a 62-year-old who was skiing on the street around the top of Hohe Aifner.

On Saturday, a 17-year-old from New Zealand, a 32-year-old Chinese national and a German about 50 who reportedly were all skiing outside the designated ski trails when the avalanches fell dead as well.

In Switzerland, a 56-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man were also killed by unstable snow in the southeastern Grambuenden canton on Saturday morning. Swiss police said a third member of their group managed to escape intact.

Ortics are common in both countries. According to Austria's APA news agency, 30 airports were reported in the Tirol region alone.