ROME (AP) – Two snowshoe hikers were killed in an avalanche in the Italian Alps near Switzerland, rescuers said Sunday.
The avalanche occurred around midday on Sunday at an altitude of 2,200 meters (7,200 feet) in the Formazza valley in Piedmont region, said Federico Catania, a spokesman for the Italian Mountain Rescue Service.
He said the force of the avalanche threw one victim into a lake near the bottom of the slope, and the body of the other was found in a snowpack.
Despite strong winds, a helicopter was able to bring down a rescue team with the support of a dog unit.
The identities of the two victims were not immediately released.
The search operation was launched after security guards at a nearby embankment reported that two climbers had been hit by an avalanche, the Catania region said. An initial search on foot failed to locate the hiker, forcing the use of a helicopter.
Rescuers said a firefighting helicopter with a diver was dispatched to retrieve the body from the lake.
