Two skiers were killed and another injured Sunday when an off-trail avalanche tore through a popular freeride route on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif near the French-Swiss border, officials said.

Three skiers were swept up in the Sunday morning slide along the Couloir Vesses, a well-known off-piste route in Courmayeur’s upper Val Veny, according to Italy’s Alpine Rescue, The Associated Press reported.

Search and rescue operations involved 15 rescuers, three canine units and two helicopters. One victim was transported to a hospital in serious condition but later died, the agency said.

Authorities said another person was partially buried in an avalanche in Trentino but was pulled to safety by companions.

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The deadly slide comes amid a particularly dangerous stretch in the Italian Alps. Italy’s Alpine Rescue said last week that 13 backcountry skiers, climbers and hikers died in the Italian mountains in the week ending Feb. 8 – a record toll – with 10 of those deaths caused by avalanches linked to an unusually unstable snowpack.

Officials said recent storms have dumped fresh snow onto fragile underlying layers, while strong winds have created unstable drifts, producing hazardous conditions across the Alpine arc bordering France, Switzerland and Austria.

The main issue is caused by “persistent weak layers in the snowy cloak, often covered by fresh snow or wind, conditions that make detachments unpredictable and easily triggered even by the passing of a single skier or alpinist,” the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps said. “The dangerous points are many and difficult to identify, even for an expert.”

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Federico Catania, a spokesperson for Italy’s Alpine Rescue Corps, said recent snowstorms have drawn visitors eager to take advantage of fresh slopes, “and as a result, the number of accidents, and therefore fatalities, has increased proportionally,” The AP reported.

Courmayeur, a town of roughly 2,900 residents, sits about 200 kilometers – or 124 miles – northwest of Milan, a host city for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

The incidents occurred as the Winter Olympics were kicking off in the region on Feb. 6.

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Authorities stressed that competition sites – located in Lombardy near the Swiss border, Cortina d’Ampezzo in Veneto and Val di Fiemme in Trentino – remain safe, well-maintained and closely monitored.

“There is no danger for people skiing within managed ski resorts, and, in particular, no risks to the Olympic sites,” Catania said previously. “All of these areas are constantly monitored and are generally safe regardless of Olympic events.”

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Prior to the start of the Winter Olympics, Vigili del Fuoco said crews would maintain safety measures for all visitors to the sites.

Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Hungary’s main opposition leader Péter Magyar held a campaign event in Budapest on Sunday, calling on the government to respect people’s privacy after what he described as blackmail and a honeytrap set up by the government to discredit him.

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According to opinion polls, Magyar’s Tisza Party is leading Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party, ahead of the parliamentary elections on the 12th of April.

Orbán, a far-right conservative politician, has been governing Hungary since 2010 with an absolute majority.

Magyar said earlier this week that he was blackmailed by government figures with a sex tape showing him and his former partner, secretly recorded in a Budapest flat in 2024. So far, the video has not been released, but one picture showing a bedroom has spread online.

“If you want Viktor Orbán to spy in your bedroom, then feel free to vote for the ruling Fidesz party,” said Magyar.

He added that Orbán’s party is afraid of losing power and is ready to do disgusting things to discredit the Tisza opposition.

“If they can disclose my private life, they can do the same to others,” asserted Magyar.

The opposition leader, whose Tisza party leads most national opinion polls, called on Orbán to participate in an electoral debate.

‘Hungary will not be dragged into war’

Magyar appeared to target young voters with his campaign event on Saturday, which followed a speech delivered by the Hungarian leader.

The main opposition leader described the upcoming April vote as the “biggest party of the decade” and urged young people to mark the election date in their calendars.

The opposition Tisza party candidate also rejected the government’s narrative, which claimed that an opposition win would drag Hungary into war.

Magyar promised his government would reject military conscription, noting that his party condemns Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but stressing that Budapest will not be dragged into the conflict.

He also vowed that, in the event of winning the elections, he would keep the barrier at Hungary’s southern border to prevent illegal migration.

Magyar also announced that his party does not support the European Union’s migration pact or Ukraine’s fast-track accession to the bloc.

The opposition candidate also addressed reports about a recent chemical leak that occurred in a battery factory near Budapest, with the level of toxic substances exceeding government-allowed thresholds.

“We are making full, independent, and public measurements mandatory. Internal measurements and data from factories cannot remain secret,” he said.

Magyar met with EU leaders at Munich Security Conference

Magyar spent Friday and Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, where he held discussions with 12 European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

The Tisza party leader said he informed the leaders about his plans in the event of winning the elections.

“The most important task of the future Tisza government will be to bring back the EU funds due to the Hungarian people,” Magyar said after his talks in Munich.

He added that his government will aim to adopt strict anti-corruption measures, ensure the independence of the courts, freedom of the press and higher education institutions.

He also shared that he made clear his position on Ukraine’s accelerated EU bid to leaders in his talks.