Last body recovered in British Columbia

FERNIE, British Columbia, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Searchers found the body of an eighth snowmobiler Tuesday in the Canadian mountains where he and seven others were buried by two avalanches.

Danny Bjarnason and 10 others, all from Sparwood, British Columbia, were buried by the avalanches Sunday afternoon. Three of the men dug themselves out.

Randy Robertson, Bjarnason's father-in-law, said the 11 men were all good friends, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. He said they were also experienced at handling snowmobiles and aware of the risk of avalanches.

"Safety meant lots to those guys," he said. "They all had their packs, their shovels."

Seven of the bodies were found Monday in the avalanche area about 12 miles from Fernie, British Columbia.

"On a personal level eight is a lot," a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer said. "And I would struggle to think of a situation where I have been involved in personally where there were that many lives taken at once."