Five climbers roped together fall 600ft to their deaths in Alps

Eight mountain climber died in three separate accidents in the Alps. Picture: MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images

The Austrian Red Cross said five climbers died  yesterday in the Austrian Alps in Wildgerlostal on Mount Gabler, east of  Innsbruck.

A sixth climber, believed to be a 60-year-old man, is being treated in hospital in Salzburg. He was said to be in a stable condition.

The six were roped together when they fell in a remote area about 6,000 feet up the mountain. Six rescue helicopters were scambled to the area.

Officials said the  climbers were below the Mannlkarscharte pass, in an area with a heightened risk of rockslides.

Anton Voithofer, head of the Red Cross rescue team, said: “We think a rope may have come loose.”

It is understood that one member of the group slipped and fell on a  glacier, bringing the others down with him, the head of the  rescue teams, Martin Reichholf, said.

The group fell 600 feet down a steep slope covered with ice and debris.

One of the climbers who died was identified as a 34-year-old man from Bavaria. All five of those killed are thought to be from Germany.

In a separate accident yesterday, two people, reported to be a man and woman aged in their mid-30s, were killed in the  Italian Alps as they climbed the  Adamello glacier in the  Trentino Alto Adige region, according to the emergency rescue centre in the town of Trento.

They were part of a group of nine Italians from the city of Brescia.

The climbers were connected by three ropes and fell when those on the lowest rope slipped on the glacier, dragging down others, according to the rescue centre.

The accident involved a group of nine mountaineers – believed to be two families – and all of them, including two 13-year-olds, were injured.

Three helicopters were used to rescue the group, officials said.

The Italian news agency ANSA said that one of the  victims had been rescued in a critical condition but died later.

Another Italian climber died on Saturday after being hit by boulders in the Valtellina Alpine area, near the border with Switzerland.