Avalanche rescue

A giant snow slab broke away and barreled down a mountainside, briefly burying three people out of dozens participating in an avalanche course in the Swiss Alps on Dec. 7, rescue services said.

"Practice became serious," the Swiss rescue services Rega said in a statement after the avalanche hit members of a group of 40 people learning how to minimize avalanche risks.

A score of Turkish search and rescue team members who were caught in an avalanche on Feb. 5 have been saved, but 11 died, said authorities.

Bulgaria's Mountain Rescue Service on 31th of January warns of high danger of avalanches in the mountains. 

There is considerable avalanche danger where the storm-strong winds have deposited fresh snowdrifts on the slopes.

One skier is enough to trigger an avalanche in such locations, the rescue service warns.

Naturally triggered avalanches can also be expected.

Two people were killed and three others were injured after being caught in an avalanche at a ski resort in Idaho.

Rescue operations continued throughout the day. According to local media, one of the dead was found under a three-meter layer of snow, according to BGNES.

Bulgaria's mountain rescue service on 23rd of January are warning of a high avalanche danger in the coming days. The highest risk of avalanches is in Pirin mountain as there is already 30 cm new snow. By Sunday, the snow cover is expected to reach 1 m, reports BNT. 

The weather conditions are dangerous for both tourists and fans of extreme sports and skiing off piste.

Three Spanish tourists have died in an avalanche in the Swiss part of the Alps, and two others in the group have minor injuries, the French press reported.

At least three skiers have died after they have been swept away by an avalanche in the French Pyrenees, the New York Times reported.

The director of the mountain rescue service, Radko Markov, warned on Friday that there is a considerable danger of avalanches occurring in the Bulgarian mountains.

Markov recommended to tourists to prepare well before going out in the mountain by researching the route and avoiding areas prone to avalanches in order to minimise the risks of being engulfed by an avalanche.

An avalanche occurred in the Vitosha mountain overlooking the Bulgarian capital of Sofia on Thursday.

The mountain rescue service said that it is looking for two tourists who were in the region of the Aleko chalet where the avalanche occurred.

The rescue operation is ongoing with 14 rescuers and two dogs participating in it.

The city of Caransebes can boast an avalanche response team complete with the first avalanche rescue dog to have earned his certification in Romania. It's actually a female Belgian Malinois, "her name is Vreni, and she's 20 months old. This is the first dog born, trained, tested and certified in Romania for avalanche search and rescue.