Avalanche hits hotel as heavy snow across Europe leaves 21 dead

At least 21 people have died in weather-related incidents across the continent this week, including two snowboarders who got caught up in an avalanche in the Pirin Mountains in southwest Bulgaria.

In Germany, a snowplough driver was killed when his vehicle toppled into an icy river, and an electrical worker suffered a fatal heart attack while repairing damaged power lines out in the cold in Albania.

Many people have also been injured as a result of the extreme conditions, including three who were hurt when a 300-metre-wide avalanche hit the Santis hotel in Schwaegalp in Switzerland on Thursday.

An image taken from inside the hotel showed the snow had crashed into the restaurant and buried more than 25 vehicles, including a coach, in the car park.

One guest at the hotel told the Tagblatt newspaper: "There was a massive noise and a load of snow came in the back of the restaurant."

Elsewhere, schools were forced to shut after heavy snow left some remote villages cut off and disrupted traffic and power supplies in the Balkans.

Serbian state TV said on Friday that six regions in the southwest of the country had introduced emergency measures, but strong winds were complicating the work of emergency crews.

Authorities were attempting to distribute supplies to residents, hindered by snowdrifts.

In neighbouring Montenegro, three towns on the Adriatic coast are still without electricity after a snowstorm earlier in the week hit a key power distribution line.

In the central Bosnian region of Kladanj, snow disrupted power supplies and cut phone lines.

Zijad Vejzovic, from the area's civil protection agency, said authorities have declared an emergency.

He said roads were impassable in some areas covered in one-metre-deep snow

"We need more machines. We have run out of resources and money," he said.

The weather has caused major disruption across Austria and Germany too.

Around 120 flights were cancelled at Frankfurt Airport and 90 at Munich Airport on Friday due to snow.

Courtesy : Sky news