One person is dead and five others have been injured following two avalanches in British Columbia's backcountry. Coroner Barb McLintock said Saturday that the avalanches occurred Friday afternoon near Sparwood in southeast British Columbia. There were unconfirmed media reports the victims were on snowmobiles, AP reported. The Canadian Avalanche Centre issued a warning Friday that the backcountry avalanche risk was high due to weak layers in the snowpack. Ben Mittelsteadt, a spokesman for the British Columbia Ambulance Service, says paramedics took three people to the hospital with minor injuries. He says dangerous weather conditions forced paramedics to wait until Saturday morning to airlift two others from nearby Fernie. A 44-year-old man died earlier this week after he and four other snowmobilers got caught in a snowslide near Whistler, British Columbia.
