Six die in sled crash on Italian ski slope

SIX Russians were killed and two others were injured when their snow­mobile slammed into a fence and flipped over into a ditch during a night run down an Italian ski slope.

The crash happened on an unlit slope late on Friday night on Mount Cermis in north-east Italy, local media reported.

The Russian consul general in Milan, Alexei Parmonov, said he was in contact with Italian investigators, who suspect the crash was caused by ­excessive speed.

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Russian news reports said the snowmobile was pulling a sled, which is where most of the passengers were sitting.

Local fire department commander Roberto Marchi said: “It is clear that the fundamental cause is recklessness and imprudence.”

Four men and two women died in the crash, ­Parmonov said. Five of them and one of the injured men were tourists from Krasnodar, a region in southern Russia that includes Sochi, which is preparing to hold the 2014 Winter Olympics.

One of the dead women and the other injured man worked in Italy in the tourist industry.

One 17-year-old, who stayed behind in the hotel, lost his mother and sister in the accident, while his father was hospitalised with multiple fractures, Parmonov said.

Mount Cermis has a tragic history. In 1998, a US Marine jet, flying low on a training run from a nearby air base, accidently sliced a ski gondola’s cable, sending the cable car crashing to the ground and claiming 20 lives. The accident triggered months of tensions between Italy and the ­United States.

In 1976, a ski gondola broke off from its cable and plunged to the slope, killing 42 people.

A day of entertainment had been planned for the Val di Fiemme ski resort area, ahead of World Cup cross-country ski competition, but the festivities were cancelled because of the snowmobile accident.

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