A New Zealander has died in an avalanche in the Italian Alps, along with three other other skiers
The skiers were thought to have been skiing off-piste when they were hit by an avalanche in a valley near the resort of Courmayeur, in the northern Italian region of Valle d’Aosta, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The 39-year-old Kiwi had been living in London.
An alarm was raised when the skiers failed to return and meet with friends yesterday.
Using sniffer dogs and helicopters, Italian alpine rescue workers found the bodies of three of the skiers this morning and the body of the fourth later in the day, the British newspaper reports.
Italy's Ansa news agency said the four bodies found were of the New Zealander and a 43-year-old originally from Switzerland, who were both living in London, as well as a 36-year-old Frenchman and a 38-year-old Polish man who both lived in France.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told 1 NEWS, "The New Zealand Embassy in Rome is providing assistance to the family of a New Zealand citizen who has been killed in an avalanche near Courmayeur in Italy."
They were believed to have been buried under six feet of snow. Efforts to recover the bodies were hampered by extremely steep terrain and the risk of further avalanches, according to the Daily Telegraph.
In all, eight people, including a Belgian snowboarder and at least one British national, died in Italy as a result of weekend avalanches, according to the BBC.
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