ROME (AP) — An avalanche hit a group of five skiers in Italy’s northern Piedmont region on Sunday, killing three of them, rescuers said.

Two survived and were transported to the hospital by helicopter.

The avalanche hit around midday on the eastern face of Punta Valgrande, a summit on the border between Italy and Switzerland.

The skiers who died were dragged downhill for several hundred metres (yards), suffering fatal injuries.

An alert had been issued in the area above 2,100 metres (6,900 feet), warning of “considerable danger of avalanches.”