US News: 5 People Dead in Colorado Avalanche
 

Updated 4:00 AM EDT, Sun April 21, 2013
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An avalanche on a high mountain pass in Colorado's White River National Forest killed five people, officials say.


In Colorado's deadliest avalanche accident in more than 50 years, five members of a backcountry snowboarder group were found dead Saturday after they were buried in snow on a high mountain pass in Colorado's White River National Forest, officials from the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office told CNN.

A sixth member of the group survived by digging himself out of the snow.

He hiked a few hundred yards to a road and flagged down workers with the Colorado Department of Transportation, Sheriff Don Kruger said. Search teams have recovered the five bodies from the scene.

The avalanche occurred at Loveland Pass, which is located about 50 miles west of Denver at an elevation of 11,990 feet, the officials said.

The snowboarders' names weren't immediately released.

All of them were wearing avalanche beacons and proper equipment, according to the sheriff's office.

The Colorado Alpine Rescue Team said this was Colorado's deadliest avalanche accident since 1962.