A young Canadian woman was identified among the three killed Monday by an avalanche at the luxury Swiss ski resort of Zermatt, police said Wednesday.
Valais canton police added there may be another skier under the snow after the disappearance of a 30-year-old man was reported on Tuesday.
“A new search operation conducted yesterday afternoon in the area concerned did not lead to his discovery,” police said in a statement.
“Everything suggests that he may also have been swept away by the Zermatt avalanche,” police added.
In addition to the young Canadian, the avalanche claimed the lives of a 15-year-old teenager and a 58-year-old Swiss man.
Police gave no further details of the victims.
The large avalanche happened in an out-of-bounds area at Zermatt in southern Switzerland shortly after 2:00 pm (1200 GMT), and an extensive search was immediately carried out despite bad weather.
Of the four people pulled out of the snow, only one was still alive, a 20-year-old Swiss man who was seriously injured and airlifted to hospital.
Around 17 people have lost their lives in avalanches in Switzerland since October 1 last year, according to statistics from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.
A total of 147 avalanche-related accidents have occurred during the period, involving 197 people.
