Austria avalanche kills 3 skiers

Officials said on Sunday that an avalanche in the Salzburg province of Austria killed three skiers and injured two others, the Associated Press reported.

The three skiers who died were all young Austrian men with one who was 24 years old and two who were 19 year old, the news outlet noted. 

One of the skiers had died after officials found the man while a second was transported to a hospital in the southern city of Klagenfurt where he later died. The two skiers who were wounded were transported to a hospital nearby. 

During a ski tour, a chunk of snow roughly 655 feet wide hit eight skiers on Saturday while they were going up a slope. In a statement, regional police said that two skiers were able to get themselves out of the avalanche after they were partially buried, while three others had been buried, the AP reported.

Regional police said they were able to find some of the skiers who had search devices on them.

The men were part of a group of 11 skiers who had been hit by the avalanche.

The Austria Press Agency identified one of the men who died as junior motorcross world and European champion Rene Hofer.