Killer avalanche hits Austrian road

Helicopters and dogs joined the rescue effort

A German couple and their two children have been killed in an avalanche which swept away cars in the Austrian Alps.

Around 100 rescuers struggled to reach other vehicles buried near the resort of Obergurgl in the Tyrol region, but police later said they believed no other victims remained buried.

The German family's car was completely wrecked, say police.

The bodies of the parents and their two children, a boy aged 13 and his 11-year-old sister, were recovered from the wreckage.

Three other people scrambled to safety from other cars, after escaping serious injury.

"Several avalanches took place in close succession and buried several vehicles on a 300-metre stretch of road," a police spokesman told the AFP news agency.

Two saved

The avalanches covered a 200m section of the road, which links Obergurgl with its neighbouring village, Untergurgl.

Ambulances rushed to the scene, after fears more people were buried

Three helicopters joined the rescue effort.

The avalanche followed heavy snowfalls in the area overnight.

A number of roads and ski resorts were temporarily closed, including those at Lech, Zuers, and Galtuer, because of the risk of further avalanches.

Most mountain roads in Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Salzburg, were passable only in vehicles equipped with snow chains.

Problems were also reported in the southern province of Carinthia, where up to a foot of snow fell in conditions which created extremly unstable snow conditions.

Avalanches could be triggered at the slightest pressure, said experts, with the severe conditions expected to continue over the weekend.