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VANCOUVER, Canada: Two people died and dozens were missing on Sunday, after a massive weekend avalanche in Western Canada hit a crowd of 200 snowmobilers in the mountainous backcountry.
Provincial teams including 40 rescue experts with dogs gathered to search for possible survivors or bodies, but the search was put on hold by authorities who feared more avalanches at the site, Corporal Dan Moskaluk told reporters.
Avalanche specialists flying in helicopters were assessing the risk on Sunday. Police said two men were confirmed dead, after earlier reporting three fatalities, and said another 30 people were injured.
The snowmobilers were in a bowl beneath Boulder Mountain near Revelstoke, 566 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, when a wall of snow crashed onto the crowd.
The crowd was attending an informal backcountry snowmobile contest held annually, dubbed "The Big Iron Shoot Out," in which riders drive their machines up steep slopes to see who can score the highest "mark" near high mountain ridges.
The number of people affected was uncertain but Moskaluk told reporters that police who spent the night checking area hotels and winter campgrounds found dozens of empty hotel rooms whose occupants were not accounted for.
"A large number of people who were on the mountain did make it safely off... but there very well could be injured persons or deceased persons that may be there", he said. - AFP/ms/de
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