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Heliskiing tour in the Rocky Mountains (icon image)
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A group from Germany had an accident while skiing in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Three men died in an avalanche, as reported by Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) and Canadian media.
Two of the casualties came from Eging am See in the Passau district, one from Munich, Mayor Walter Bauer told the dpa news agency.
The dead are a 57-year-old hospital manager, his 34-year-old brother-in-law and a 57-year-old family friend.
The 25-year-old son of the hospital manager survived the avalanche accident, as did three other people injured.
Already twelve avalanche dead in British Columbia
The four set out on a heli-skiing tour near Invermere, British Columbia, as part of a group of 10 -- nine participants and a guide -- on Wednesday, according to CTV News, among others.
Around noon, an avalanche went off and caught the people.
Three remained unharmed.
The exact course of the accident is not yet known, according to BR, from the police station responsible for Eging in Vilshofen.
With heli-skiing, winter sports enthusiasts are transported to a summit by helicopter.
From there the descent takes place through untouched deep powder snow.
According to the CBC, there have already been twelve avalanche deaths in British Columbia this year.
The Canadian avalanche safety organization Avalanche Canada compared the conditions with those of winter 2002/2003.
At that time, 25 people died in upstate British Columbia.
It was one of the worst years in terms of avalanche victims in the province.
bbr/dpa
