An avalanche in Italy killed five, including a father and daughter

An avalanche in Italy’s Dolomites has killed five German climbers, including a 17-year-old girl and her father, according to rescuers.

The climbers, traveling in separate groups, were climbing Cima Vertana in the Ortler Alps around 4pm local time on Saturday when the fast-moving snow fell.

A group of three people “were completely swept away by the avalanche” and all died, the Italian alpine rescue service Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico said.

The father and daughter were separately swept away by the avalanche and their bodies recovered on Sunday. Two other climbers in a third group survived.

The alarm was raised by the survivors, which triggered the rescue operation.

Olaf Reinstadtler, a spokesman for the mountain rescue service in Sulden, told German media that the avalanche on the 3,545-meter (11,630-foot) mountain, also called Wertainspitze, may have been caused by recent snowdrifts that had not connected with the ice below.

He said the climbing tours were popular and the weather conditions were good, but he wondered why climbers were climbing late in the afternoon, since then the descent would take until the evening.

The bodies of the three people, who climbed together, were recovered on Saturday before rescue operations were called off due to fading light and safety conditions.

The Alpine Rescue Service said fog and low visibility prevented helicopters from taking off in the early hours of Sunday.

However, after conditions improved, rescuers and avalanche dog teams were brought up to 2,600 meters before setting off on foot.

Late in the morning, the bodies of the two missing climbers – the father and the daughter – were found.