Norwegian authorities say six people suffered non-threatening injuries and several people are unaccounted for after an avalanche of snow on the remote Arctic island of Svalbard hit 10 houses.
Tone Hertzberg, a spokeswoman for the governor of Svalbard, said "it would be logical" to believe that today's 1530 IST avalanche is connected to a storm with strong winds that hit the Svalbard archipelago late yesterday.
Local daily Svalbardposten said the storm, with winds up to 95 kilometres per hour, it was the worst storm in 30 years.
Svalbard sits more than 800 kilometres north of the mainland, and is known for its stunning views of snow-covered mountains, fjords and glaciers.
