Terrifying video shows an avalanche careening down a mountain, sending skiers running for their lives at a resort in the Italian Alps where two people died in a slow slide just days earlier.
Many of the skiers at the chairlift in Val Veny initially stood still and watched as the fast-moving mass of snow barrelled towards them — but after it burst through a row of trees many started to try to flee as the cloud of powder completely enveloped them, the wild clip shows.
Several people can be seen falling to the ground as they tried to escape uphill. It’s not clear if anyone was injured.
The caught-on-camera terror at Courmayeur comes after two skiers were killed at the same resort on Sunday in another massive avalanche.
One man died at the scene while another died after being transported to hospital, officials said. A third, who was seriously hurt, was rushed to Le Molinette Hospital in Turin in northwest Italy.
Dangerous conditions recently due to fresh snowfall and windswept mountaintops have plagued the European Alps, which border Italy, France, Switzerland, and Austria, Italy’s Alpine Rescue Corps said last week.
A record 13 backcountry skiers, climbers and hikers died in the Italian mountains over a week ending Feb. 8.
“Under such conditions, the passage of a single skier, or natural overloading from the weight of snow, can be sufficient to trigger an avalanche,” Federico Catania, spokesman for Italy’s Alpine Rescue Corps, warned.
On Tuesday, a British man and a French man died near the resort town of La Grave in the French Alps, bringing the total number of avalanche-related deaths in France this ski season to 27, according to Le Monde.
Another avalanche killed three off-piste skiers, including two Brits and a French national, in the French Alps last Friday, a day after several ski resorts shut down due to the risk of snowslides. The British victims were identified as Stuart Leslie and Shaun Overy, according to the Guardian.
With Post Wires
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
