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Avalanches in Swiss Alps claim third life

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Avalanches in Swiss Alps claim third life
Photo: Valais cantonal police

A 58-year-old man has died after being hit by an avalanche in the Diablerets massif on Sunday, the third person to die in accidents in the Swiss Alps since Christmas.

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The accident happened near Bex in the canton of Vaud, Swiss media reported.

The air rescue service Rega airlifted the local man to hospital in Lausanne where he died of his injuries.

Just a few hours earlier in the same region Rega was called out to rescue a skier struck by an avalanche at Pic Chaussy. Cantonal police said eyewitnesses were able to free the man who escaped with minor injuries.

According to the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, the risk of avalanches is currently "considerable".

On Friday, an off-piste skier of unidentified nationality was swept away by an avalanche on the slopes of the Piz Nair near the resort of St. Moritz in the canton of Graubünden.

The accident came a day after a 27-year-old Irish cross-country skier, who resided near Zurich, died after being buried in snow not far from the town of Realp in central Switzerland.

The search only got under way on Friday because of poor weather conditions, police said.

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