Avalanche Hits Skiers in Alps, Seven Injured
Date: 06-Mar-06
Country: ITALY
Rescue teams plucked some athletes from the snowslide and combed the slopes for hours with sniffer dogs, eventually ruling out fears that at least one tourist had gone missing.
The avalanche hit the Artesina Rocca Giardina piste in the province of Cuneo in northwestern Italy near the border with France.
Three helicopters backed up the rescue operations.
"The search operations have been concluded. That hypothesis (of one missing) was not confirmed," said Gino Ghiazza a member of the local Alpine rescue services.
The avalanche struck at around midday, likely trigged by strong winds or else by off-piste skiers, rescue officials said.
A nearby hospital said some foreign competitors from the ski event needed treatment for slight injuries. Two were from Andorra, two were Croatian, one was Czech and one South Korean.
