Ten people were buried under snow in an avalanche at a ski resort on Christmas Day.
Rescuers backed by helicopters and dogs were desperately scouring a mountainside in western Austria on Sunday, local time, for the trapped skiers.
The avalanche came down around 3pm (1am Monday AEDT) at an altitude of 2700 metres in the Lech Zuers (also spelt Zürs) ski area, police said.
Eight people – two of them injured – have since been found in the huge search.
A police spokesman earlier told AFP only one person had been rescued, while efforts continued to find the others.
That person was an injured woman who was flown to get medical treatment, according to the Austrian Press Agency.
The national news agency reported the avalanche began in open terrain, but then the masses of snow also hit ski slope.
Shortly after, the extensive search for the missing people was under way.
One of the eight skiers now accounted for managed to free herself and get to hospital.
“We still have no news of two people and are continuing the search,” said Hermann Fercher, head of the tourist office responsible for reporting on the rescue.
A picture from the area shows a large group of rescue workers gathered on a mountain road as a helicopter flies above.
APA said there were more than 200 people involved in the search and eight helicopters, but after dark the search was restricted to land so the helicopters remained on standby to take victims to hospital.
Mr Fercher stressed “we can go on all night,” according to the news agency.
An emergency notice on the Lech Zuers resort website has now been removed.
There was no information immediately available on the identity of the victims.
Police asked witnesses and people with missing family members to get in contact with them.
Officials had warned of high avalanche risk in the area over the weekend.
In recent years, avalanches in Austria have killed about 20 people on average each year.
– with AFP
