The China Mail - Four killed after spring storms wreak havoc in the Alps

The 27-year-old Briton was caught in an avalanche at the entrance to the French Alpine resort of Val Thorens in Savoie, after heavy snowfall across the mountain range.

Found in a state of cardiac arrest, he was taken to Grenoble for treatment but died that evening, local prosecutor Benoit Bachelet said in a statement Friday.

Three people died in northern Italy on Thursday after the region was hit by heavy rains.

Floodwaters carried away a 64-year-old and his 33-year-old son in their car in the Veneto region of northeast Italy.

And a man in his 90s was found dead in his flooded home in the northwest region of Piedmont.

"Intense and abundant" rain had drenched the north of Italy, turning to snow above 1,800 metres (5,905 feet) altitude, an official said.

The storms shut roads, halted trains and cut power to areas in France, Italy and Switzerland.

Although snow in April is not rare in the Alps, the amount that fell in just hours was unusual and took authorities and residents by surprise.

Officials in some parts of the French and Swiss Alps had told residents to stay indoors on Thursday before lifting the restrictions.

The avalanche alert level was raised in several regions, shutting down several ski areas. By Friday evening however, Meteo France had lowered its alert level, while still urging skiers to remain vigilant.

Many roads were shut in all three countries due to fallen trees or the risk of avalanches.

Heavy trucks were banned from using the main Mont Blanc tunnel between France and Italy and dozens that could not get through tunnels were stuck on the A43 highway linking Italy and France.

Trains were also affected, and at one point more than 3,300 homes in France and 5,000 households in Italy were left without power, according to authorities.

"It's truly exceptional," said Didier Beauchet, a retiree who has lived in Lanslebourg in the Savoie for 40 years.

"I must have seen that only five times," he told AFP, as motorists around him worked to free their snow-covered cars.

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I.Ko--ThChM