Image copyright AFP Image caption An avalanche warning sign in the Alps. There have been several skiing deaths this winter

Three people have been killed, two are believed to be missing and three wounded in a major avalanche near the northern Italian ski resort of Courmayeur, reports say.

The deaths are reported to have happened in an off-piste area as skiers made their way through fresh snow.

Officials said the injured skiers were hit by falling rocks and had been taken to hospital by helicopter.

There have been several skiing deaths in the Alps this winter.

Rescuers on Thursday said that skiers from Germany, Belgium, Sweden and Italy were caught up in the avalanche.

A second avalanche on Thursday was reported to have taken place in the same area soon after the first. Two off-piste skiers were caught up in it, but neither was reported to have been injured.

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The avalanche risk - in one of the busiest weeks of the year for skiing in the Alps - has been assessed by officials to be three out of five, because of recent heavy snowfalls and powerful winds which have caused drifting in some areas.

Courmayeur - on the slopes of Mont Blanc - is renowned for the high difficulty levels of its skiing.</s>Italian alpine rescuers say three skiers have been killed in an avalanche in the northern Italian Alps near the French border that injured another five people.

Milan Walter of the national alpine rescue corps says the group was back-country skiing when the avalanche was triggered at Plan de la Gabba, 5 km (3 miles) southwest of Courmayeur, around midday. The dead included an Italian, a German and a Belgian, according to police.

Walter said three other skiers were seriously injured and transported by helicopter to Aosta, while two others were slightly injured. The injured included Italians and Belgians.

An official with the Financial Police, which include an alpine rescue unit, said a total of 18 skiers were hit by the avalanche, and many survived thanks to air bags. All had avalanche location devices.

“Today, greater prudence is necessary,” Delfino Viglione, the head of the Financial Police alpine rescue unit, was quoted by ANSA as saying.

Another avalanche hit two skiers about the same time in Colle San Carlo, to the south of Courmayeur, but Walter said neither needed a rescue.</s>Three skiers are reported to have been killed, two more are missing and two were injured in an avalanche at Val Vény, near Courmayeur in the Mont Blanc region of the Italian Alps. Officials say those affected by the avalanche, which struck at about midday on Thursday (2nd March) came from Italy, Sweden, Belgium and Germany.

The victims are reported to have been in an off-piste area making their way through a fresh fall of snow when the avalanche struck. The two injured skiers were hit by large rocks and have been taken to hospital in Aosta by helicopter, the BBC reported. Skiers went to the scene and dug into the deep snow to try and find those missing.

The avalanche risk in the region had been judged at three out of five on Thursday morning before the avalanche struck. This was due to a number of factors including fresh snow and high winds which caused drifting. A second avalanche struck the same area on Thursday afternoon, but two off-piste skiers who were caught up in it were not injured. Courmayeur is known for its difficult skiing.

There have been a number of avalanches in the Alps over the winter, including one at the French resort of Tignes on 14th February 2017. Four snowboarders were killed including a father and his two sons. On 16th February six climbers died in two separate incidents in the Italian and French Alps when ice walls collapsed due to unseasonably warm weather.

Twenty-nine people died when a huge avalanche buried Hotel Rigopiano in central Italy on 18th January 2017.</s>Aosta, March 2 - The Italian Alpine rescued launched an operation on Thursday amid fears that people may have been hit by an avalanche that took place at the Val Veny valley near the Aosta town of Courmayeur, sources said. Off-piste skiing is practised in the area of the avalanche, the sources said. A helicopter is being used as part of the search-and-rescue operation.</s>Rome - Rescuers say at least three people have died, two are missing and several others have been injured after two avalanches in off-piste sections of the Italian ski resort of Courmayeur.

Around 20 skiers, all non-Italians, were in the area where the first snow slide occurred about lunchtime in the middle of what is one of the busiest weeks of the year for skiing in the Alps, according to media reports.

A second avalanche followed an hour later in a different area, engulfing two off-piste skiers.

"The (first) avalanche killed three, injured three people who were taken to hospital by helicopter and left two slightly hurt," alpine rescuers said in a statement. "All were skiing off piste."

The avalanche risk had been put at three on a one-five scale as a result of fresh snowfalls and high winds which led to build-up of drifts in certain spots.

Courmayeur is located in northwestern Italy and is famed for its challenging skiing on the southern slopes of Mont Blanc.</s>Aosta, March 2 - Two people are dead and many others are injured, some in a serious condition, after an avalanche hit the Val Veny valley, near Courmayeur, just before 13:00 on Thursday, finance police who are in the scene said. A group of around 20 people, probably all foreigners, is thought to have been hit by the avalanche.</s>Italian alpine rescuers say three skiers have been killed in avalanche in the northern Italian Alps near the French border that injured another five people. Milan Walter of the national alpine rescue corps says the group was back-country skiing when the avalanche was triggered at Plan de la Gabba, 5 kilometers southwest of Courmayeur, around midday.

Start the conversation, or Read more at News Max.</s>ROME: Three skiers were killed and five injured when an avalanche swept through a mountain pass on Thursday near the resort of Courmayeur in northern Italy, rescuers said.

The victims were from Italy, Germany and Belgium, police officer Daniele Ollier said.

"It was like a battlefield" when rescuers arrived on the scene in Val Veny, Ollier said, because people were shouting in different languages.

"We didn't have much time and we had to talk to people to understand if anyone was still missing," he said.

Three injured people - an Italian man, an Italian woman and a man who has not yet been identified - are being treated in hospital, Alpine emergency service spokesman Walter Milan said.

Two Belgians have been discharged from hospital after medical checks and treatment, Milan said.

Only expert skiers should attempt the narrow pass, which contains exposed rock, police officer Delfino Viglione said.</s>Three people were killed and several others were injured after two avalanches swept through the Aosta Valley in northern Italy in quick succession on Thursday, Italian police said.

Alpine rescue experts from the Guardia di Finanza said the three victims - a German, an Italian and a Belgian – died when the first avalanche struck the Veny Valley near Mont Blanc south-west of Courmayeur just before 1pm.

Several others from Italy, Germany and Belgium, were also injured, some seriously, said the alpine service of the Guardia di Finanza police. The group was reported to be skiing off piste when the avalanche occurred at Plan de la Gabba.

“The number of victims has risen to three in the Veny Valley,” Italy’s national alpine rescue service (CNSAS) said in a Tweet earlier in the day. Five of the injured, including two Italians and two Belgians, were dug out of the snow and flown by emergency helicopter to Umberto Parini hospital in Aosta.

One of the injured who has not been identified was in a critical condition in intensive care at the hospital, according to Italian news agency ANSA.</s>Rome, March 2 - The three victims of an avalanche near Courmayeur Thursday are an Italian, a Belgian and a German, police said. A total of 18 people were hit by the avalanche, from Italy, Belgium and Germany. The wounded are a man from Alto Adige, a Turin woman, two Belgians and one man in a "desperate" condition who has not yet been identified.
An avalanche near the northern Italian town of Courmayeur, kills at least three people and injures another three, while two others are believed missing.