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US teen among three killed in avalanche near Swiss resort

Police said the deadly avalanche occurred Monday afternoon above the ski resort and below the famed Matterhorn peak.
Credit: Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP, File
FILE - Skiers ride down the slopes of the Zermatt ski resort with the Mount Matterhorn in the background, on Jan. 16, 2012.

GENEVA, Switzerland — An American teenager and two other people were killed in avalanche near the Swiss resort of Zermatt, police said Tuesday. One person was flown to a hospital with serious injuries.

The avalanche occurred at about 2 p.m. Monday in an off-piste area of the Riffelberg, above the resort and below the famed Matterhorn peak. Rescuers recovered three bodies and the injured skier, a 20-year-old Swiss man.

The victims were a 15-year-old American boy, as well as a man and a woman whose identification has not yet been concluded, police in Valais canton (state) said in a statement. They gave no further details, but said they currently have no information on the woman's identity.

Prosecutors were investigating the incident.

Last month, five members of a Swiss family were found dead after going missing while cross-country skiing near the Matterhorn in difficult weather conditions. Authorities abandoned the search for a sixth missing person days later.

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