Two dead in British Columbia avalanches

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Two people on snowmobiles were missing in British Columbia Monday, a day after separate avalanches engulfed them, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

The first slide was reported around 2:30 p.m. near the southeastern town of Chetwynd, RCMP Constable Craig Douglass told the Vancouver Sun. A group of 14 snowmobilers was hit, and three of them were buried, he said. All three were dug out, but one was dead, and out of fear of another avalanche, the group left the unidentified victim behind, Douglass said.

About an hour and a half later near the southwestern city of Kamloops, a near-identical incident was reported to the RCMP in Enderby, the report said. An emergency locator beacon alerted police to a slide on Mara mountain that trapped three snowmobilers. Two of them managed to dig themselves out, but they left the third behind as they fled, the RCMP said.

Aerial survey crews were scheduled to fly over both sites Monday to determine if it is safe for crews to recovers the bodies, the report said.

In the last two weeks, at least 13 people have been killed by snow slides in British Columbia, the Sun said.