According to reporting by the Guardian, fatalities and injuries have been recorded across several incidents in recent days, with emergency services deployed to multiple avalanche sites in the country’s western areas. The government office in the Tyrol region said intense snowfall over the past week had led to accumulations of up to 1.5 metres, significantly increasing avalanche risk due to unstable snowpack and strong winds.

One of the deadliest incidents occurred on Friday afternoon near the ski resort of St Anton am Arlberg, where five off-piste skiers were caught in a massive avalanche measuring nearly 450 metres wide. Rescue teams, including mountain-rescue units, dog squads, ambulance crews and firefighters were deployed to search for victims buried beneath the snow.

Authorities said an American and a Polish national were among those killed after being swept away by the snow slide, while a 21-year-old Austrian skier later died in hospital after sustaining critical injuries.

In a separate incident earlier the same day in the Nauders-Bergkastel area, a 42-year-old German man was killed when an avalanche struck him and his 16-year-old son while skiing. The teenager survived with injuries and was able to call for help after the slide. Meanwhile, another victim, a 39-year-old Swiss snowboarder, was reportedly killed in neighbouring Vorarlberg after being caught in an off-piste avalanche.

Tyrol’s governor, Anton Mattle, warned that the recent snowfall had drawn increasing numbers of people into mountainous terrain despite hazardous conditions.“It is painful that we have already had to record several avalanches with injuries and fatalities,” Mattle said in a statement.

Regional officials added that turbulent weather conditions are expected to persist, with avalanche danger remaining high across parts of western Austria as rescue and monitoring operations continue.