Three German skiers died in an avalanche in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The victims are two men from the Lower Bavarian municipality of Eging and a man from Munich, confirmed the mayor of Eging, Walter Bauer, to the German Press Agency on Friday. The newspapers of the Bayern media group had previously reported.

According to police, the accident happened on Wednesday in the Canadian province of British Columbia, about 500 kilometers northeast of Vancouver. A total of ten people were hit by an avalanche while heliskiing. Four of them were injured, some seriously. The police did not give any specific information about the nationalities of the other group members. Except for the teacher, there are no Canadian citizens, it said.

With heli-skiing, winter sports enthusiasts are transported to a summit by helicopter. From there the descent takes place through untouched deep powder snow.

It was the sixth fatal avalanche accident in the province since the start of the season in November, the Canadian Press news agency reported.