Dutch Prince Johan Friso was in critical but stable condition in intensive care yesterday after an avalanche buried him while he was skiing off piste in the Austrian alps.

A fire that engulfed a home for the elderly in western Austria killed 11 people and injured six others.

At least 10 people have died in a fire at an old people’s home in western Austrian, authorities said today.

A young brown bear that emerged from dense forests in the south-western Austrian province of Vorarlberg and attacked three sheep in a stall earlier this week has become the talk of the town in the region, where the species was last spotted in 1860.

Brienz at the foot of the picturesque Bernese Alps in Switzerland – normally packed with tourists and hikers at this time of year – is instead coated with mud and debris today after days of devastating flooding.

RESCUE workers airlifted residents from a half-submerged riverside district of the Swiss capital yesterday as large swathes of central and southern Europe remained underwater and the death toll from flooding rose to 42.

Rescue workers airlifted residents from a half-submerged riverside district of the Swiss capital today as large swathes of central and southern Europe remained underwater and the death toll from flooding rose to 42.

FLOOD victims waded into their homes yesterday to shovel out mud and clean-up crews cleared the debris from streets after heavy rains deluged central and southern Europe.

Rescue workers piled sandbags to hold back surging floodwaters today and evacuated hundreds of people from alpine valleys in Austria and southern Germany as heavy rains and landslides battered central and southern Europe.

A ski instructor and a skier buried in an avalanche in south-western Austria managed to free themselves, authorities said.

Rescue workers today resumed their search for an American snowboarder missing after alpine avalanches in Austria killed at least three people, including a Canadian and a German seeking the dangerous thrill of skiing off-trail in virgin snow.

A German family-of-four died when an avalanche smashed into their car on an Austrian road.

Four people have been killed as a 200-metre wide avalanche hit a road in the Austrian Tyrol.