Ten skiers feared buried in a Christmas Day avalanche within the Alps were all accounted for Monday — miraculously escaping a deadly trap under the sudden snowslide.
One man who was partly buried suffered serious injuries, while three others were treated for minor ailments, officials said.
A 500-yard avalanche covered a trail near Trittkopf mountain within the town of Zuers in eastern Austria, and emergency employees who viewed video footage believed that as much as 10 skiers were trapped within the snow, police said in a press release.
About 200 rescuers were sent down the slopes to assist find the skiers — but several seen within the video managed to flee the torrent and skied down the mountain without alerting officials they were secure, police said.
Still, search efforts continued Monday out of an abundance of caution, though police within the Vorarlberg region released a press release saying “in accordance with the present state of data, it could possibly be assumed that no further individuals are missing.”
The deluge got here after days of heavy snowfall were followed by warm weather on Sunday.
An avalanche warning was in effect, and explosives were detonated in the world to loosen small clusters of powder in an effort to forestall large buildups from snowballing.
With Post wires