Snowmobiler killed in B.C. avalanche

A snowmobiler has been killed in an avalanche near Merritt, B.C., the third snowmobiler to die in the province this week.

The man went missing after a group of 12 snowmobilers were caught up in the avalanche around noon local time Tuesday on the south side of Coquihalla Lake, near the old highway toll booth.

Barry Gannon with Hope Search and Rescue said the group was using a trail network in the area when the slide came down.

"There's trails, all sorts of trails up there, that run from almost Princeton-Tulameen area right up through the Coquihalla there, right up to the old toll booth. And I think they were going to meet in the middle and unfortunately an avalanche came down on one of the trails," he said.

The man's body was located by the other snowmobilers, but conditions were too dangerous for the search and rescue team to recover it, so the team will go back in on Wednesday to remove it, Gannon said.

"The snowmobilers that were with him did find him and they dug him out. They have tried to revive him, but it turned out, they couldn't," he said.

The man's name has not yet been released. It is not known what caused the avalanche.

2 other snowmobilers killed

Two other snowmobilers also died in separate accidents in B.C. in recent days.

In one accident in Elko, west of Fernie, an unidentified 44-year-old man was killed when his sled went off an embankment and struck a BMX ramp on Monday.

In the second accident near Prince George on Sunday, another 44-year-old man was killed after running head-on into another snowmobile in the dark, while the pair were out sledding on a lake.