GENEVA, March 24, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Two cross-country skiers have been killed
in an avalanche near the plush resort of Klosters in southeast Switzerland,
police said Saturday.

The accident happened on Friday, the Graubunden regional police said.

"In the Schintersiten area they took a slope with a steep gradient," a police
statement said.

"Several avalanches broke out and dragged the two men about 200 metres down
the rocky terrain.

"As a result, both the 54-year-old and his 57-year-old companion, both of
whom lived in the canton of Bern, were fatally injured."

The Graubunden public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation
alongside the cantonal police.

Before Friday's accident, 12 people had lost their lives in avalanches in
Switzerland since October 1 last year, according to statistics from the WSL
Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.

A total of 142 avalanche-related accidents have occurred, with 188 people
swept away.

Earlier this month, six cross-country skiers went missing in a storm near the
southern luxury resort of Zermatt. The group, aged 21 to 58, included five
members of the same family.

Five bodies were recovered and the search for the sixth person was ultimately
called off.