Three skiers dead after 'swept away' and 'dragged hundreds of metres' by avalanche on mountains in Italy

Local media named the three deceased as driving school instructor Gaudenzio Bonini, 65, Matteo Auguadro, 48, and Matteo Lomazzi, 34. An additional two skiers survived and were airlifted to hospital by helicopter after a difficult rescue operation.

The avalanche hit at about midday on the eastern face of Punta Valgrande, a summit on the border between Italy and Switzerland. The skiers who died were dragged downhill for several hundred metres, suffering fatal injuries, rescuers said.

According to Italian news site Attualita, the avalanche happened on the eastern ridge of Punta Valgrande - close to 3,000 metres above sea level. Witnesses alerted the rescue team after watching the avalanche that engulfed the group of five.

The National Alpine and Speleological Rescue and the Alpine Rescue of the Guardia di Finanza raced to the scene. The area was scanned with state-of-the-art avalanche scanning devices that reveal the location of people trapped under the snow, assisted by dog teams - but nothing could be done to save the three men.

Matteo Gasparini, head of the Alpine Rescue of the Valdossola Delegation, said: “They were all experienced guys. They were climbing the canal where there was already a track of someone who had passed previously, but they were swept away by the avalanche.”

Earlier this month a skier died and another was left injured after triggering a large avalanche while ascending a mountain in western Wyoming. Kenneth Goff, 36, of Lander, Wyoming, was killed on Saturday afternoon (11 January) after being completely buried in the snow on the Togwotee Pass.