OTTAWA, March 26, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Three skiers were killed and a fourth was critically injured when they were swept away in an avalanche in Canada's westernmost province of British Columbia, police said Tuesday.

The four men had just finished skiing in an alpine area on the east side of Kootenay Lake, 700 kilometers (435 miles) east of Vancouver, in the early afternoon Monday and were waiting in a staging area below the tree line with another group when tragedy struck.

"A transport helicopter was nearing the group when the pilot observed an avalanche and sounded the siren," the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.

One group managed to race out of harm's way, but the other was swept away in a wall of snow.

Three of the men -- a 45-year-old man from the US state of Idaho, a 44-year-old from Whistler, British Columbia, and their 53-year-old guide from the nearby town of Kaslo -- were later found dead by emergency responders.

The fourth man, 40, from Nelson, British Columbia, was critically injured.

Authorities this week warned of a high risk of avalanches in the area caused by rising spring temperatures.