Austria Avalanche Risk Grows

BERLIN (AP) -- Austrian authorities are issuing the highest avalanche warning possible for several regions, while more than 350 residents in Bavaria were snowed in and a teacher was killed while skiing in the Alps.

At least 14 weather-related deaths have been reported in Europe over the last week.

Schools remained closed in parts of Austria and southern Germany on Wednesday, several roads and highways were blocked leading to a 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) traffic jam near Munich and trucks had to deliver food to the snowed-in Bavarian community Buchenhoehe near Berchtesgarden as snow continued falling across the northern Alps.

Austrian news agency APA reported that a 62-year-old teacher was killed while skiing in Mariazeller Buergeralpe in Austria when he fell and got buried in a snowbank.

Many slopes have been closed as a precaution.

(KA)