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Avalanche in Tyrol (archive image)
Photo: Unknown / dpa
Several German soldiers have been buried by an avalanche in the Austrian mountains.
According to the police in Tyrol, the masses of snow broke when a 19-strong group from the Bundeswehr built snow caves in the Stubai Alps on Tuesday.
Five people were therefore partially or completely buried by the avalanche, which was about 30 meters wide and 10 meters long.
All were saved.
Three people aged 21 and 26 were injured and taken to hospital.
Avalanche danger warning
The investigators assume that the avalanche was triggered by the digging of the temporary snow shelters at an altitude of 3150 meters, as a police spokesman for the German Press Agency said.
The soldiers had come from the Bavarian Mittenwald.
The spokesman did not say which unit they belong to.
The Tyrolean avalanche warning service warned on Tuesday of a significant danger in parts of the Austrian state.
Last June, a Bundeswehr soldier from the Special Forces Command (KSK) was killed by a rock avalanche during mountain training in Tyrol.
tfb/dpa