Avalanche kills 4 skiers in Kyrgyzstan visiting from Czech Republic and Slovakia

Four tourists were killed in an avalanche that hit a group of skiers in Kyrgyzstan, the Czech and Slovak foreign ministries told Agence France-Presse on Monday. Kyrgyz state media said the accident occurred in the country's northeast, close to the border with Kazakhstan and China, where a French tourist died at the beginning of February in similar circumstances.

"Twenty-three tourists from the Czech Republic and Slovakia were skiing when an avalanche was triggered," the Kabar state news agency reported, citing rescue services.

Czech foreign ministry spokeswoman Mariana Wernerova told AFP that three of the dead skiers were Czech nationals.