Six skiers have died in an avalanche on Monte Nevoso in the Italian Alps.

Carabinieri in Bolzano and Brunico confirmed the deaths in an avalanche that struck midday Saturday at an elevation of about 3,000 metres.

Search-and-rescue operations were still under way.

The dead were in a group of excursionists. It was not clear how many were in the group or what triggered the avalanche.

Monte Nevoso is 3,358 metres in altitude in the Alto Adige region of Italy near the Austrian border.

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