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The British skier, 18, was swept away and killed in an avalanche while out on the slopes in Meiringen, in the Swiss canton of Bern, with another unidentified individual still missing as rescue teams trawl through the snow
A teenage Brit man has been killed after being swept away by an avalanche while skiing in Switzerland.
Swiss rescue teams are currently searching for another person who has also been reported missing following Tuesday’s disaster.
The avalanche happened in Meiringen, which is located in the Canton of Bern.
The missing person’s age, gender and nationality hasn’t been revealed.
Local reports say the 18-year-old was originally from England but had been recently living in Bern.
Cops were notified of the avalanche at around 4.25pm on Tuesday, with mountain rescue teams then deployed alongside a helicopter to track down anyone in need of rescue.
The avalanche happened at a ski slope on the Wellhorn mountain called Gstelliwang.
Two members of a ski tour, thought to be the aforementioned victims, were separated from the larger group when the avalanche hit.
The avalanche buried them both beneath the snow, according to Bern police.
The rescue team could only recover one of the buried men, the 18-year-old British victim.
At around 7.30pm last night, the search for the second victim had to end as it became dark.
The search is being conducted by the Swiss Alpine Rescue Rega crew, Swiss Alpine Rescue, mountain specialist and the Bern canton police.
Last month, a mountaineer revealed how he survived more than 20 hours buried under an avalanche as temperatures plunged to -15C.
Carluccio Sartori, 54, left rescuers and police officers astonished when he was pulled out of the snow alive – and was even able to have a conversation.
He told rescuers that an air chamber that formed the surface of the avalanche not only provided him with oxygen to breathe but also insulated him from the freezing temperatures of the night.
The incredible rescue of the man from Villanova Marchesana in Rovigo, northeast Italy, happened at the famous resort in Val Badia Valley in the South Tyrol region on January 27.
When he was pulled out of the ground he had a body temperature of around 24 degrees Celsius after spending the whole night buried by snow.
The body temperature meant that he was in the third and most serious stage of hypothermia.
After being rushed to the San Maurizio hospital in Bolzano and being hospitalised in intensive care, Mr Sartori is expected to make a full recovery despite suffering some fractures and frostbite on his hands and feet.
Talking from his hospital bed, Mr Sartori said while buried under the snow, he tried to stay awake and not fall asleep as his will to live was very strong.
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