VIENNA, Austria — At least five people have been killed in a string of avalanches in western Austria, authorities said Saturday.

The government office of the Tyrol region said intense snowfall over the last week led to accumulations of up to 5 feet. Combined with windy conditions and weak snowpack below, the conditions were especially susceptible to avalanches, it said.

Tyrol police said five off-piste skiers were caught up in about a 490 yard wide avalanche Friday afternoon in the St. Anton am Arlberg area at an altitude of about 6,500 feet.

An American and a Pole were among the five recovered dead after the avalanche, and a 21-year-old Austrian died of injuries after being rushed to hospital, police said.

Late Friday morning in the Nauders-Bergkastel resort to the southeast, a 42-year-old German man and his 16-year-old son were caught in an avalanche. The teen survived with injuries but his father was killed.

— The Associated Press