Weekend avalanches kill 10 in Austria and Switzerland

Ten people have been killed in several avalanches across the Austrian and Swiss Alps over the weekend.

Tourists from New Zealand, China and Germany were among the dead at a number of different ski resorts.

Austrian authorities put in place a level four avalanche alert - the second highest - following intense snowfall and wind in the area.

Despite the warnings, ski resorts in western Austria have been filling up due to school holidays in Vienna.

Austrian Police announced five deaths on

Sunday, including that of a 59-year-old man who was using a snow plough in the western region of Tyrol.

They also recovered the bodies of a ski guide in Sankt Anton am Arlberg and a 62-year-old man who was cross-country skiing around the summit of Hohe Aifner.

On Saturday, a 17-yearold New Zealander, a 32-year-old Chinese national and a German man in his 50s - who were all said to be skiing off designated ski trails when avalanches hitwere also found dead.

In Switzerland, a 56-yearold woman and 52-year-old man were also killed by un- stable snow in the southeast canton of Graubuenden on Saturday morning. Swiss Police said a third member of their group managed to escape unharmed.

Avalanches are common in both countries. According to Austria's APA news agency, 30 avalanches were reported in the Tyrol region on Saturday alone - 11 of these involving people.

Austria's level four alert level means "very large avalanches are likely" - it advises inexperienced skiers to remain on open ski runs and trails and for experienced skiers to stay away from very steep terrain. (BBC News) his rule, and he enjoyed the support of the military and Pakistanis who backed his crackdown against militant groups.

But his decade-long rule was also marred by a heavy-handed approach to dissent, which included arresting rivals such as current Prime Minister Sharif and the imposing of an almost six-week long state of emergency in which he suspended the Constitution and censored the media.

A graduate from a Christian high school, Musharraf was keen for Pakistan to embrace liberal Islam, an approach that increased his appeal in the West following the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

Musharraf joined what Washington called its "war on terror", giving U.S. forces ground and air access into landlocked Afghanistan to chase down al Qaeda militants.

This decision contradicted Pakistan's long-standing support for the Taliban, which at that point controlled Afghanistan, and made Musharraf a target for domestic militant groups. He survived at least four assassination attempts. (Excerpt from Reuters)