Two Austrians dead, one hurt in Italy avalanche

ROME, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Two Austrian excursionists died and a third was critically injured after they were submerged by an avalanche on Thursday, local media reported.

The three excursionists, who had reached Italy on Wednesday night, were wearing avalanche transceivers so they could be found quickly under the snow in case of an avalanche, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

Rescuers dug the three out after 40 minutes, finding only one of them, a woman, still alive. She was helicoptered to hospital in the northern city of Trento.

The avalanche occurred at altitude of 3,200 meters on the Gran Zebru peak in the Alps in the northeastern Trentino Alto Adige region bordering Austria.

This was the second fatal incident on the Italian side of the Trentino Alto Adige mountains in a week, according to Corriere della Sera newspaper.

On March 14, a 22-year-old Italian snowboarder, the son of a local village mayor, lost his life in an avalanche, the paper reported. Enditem