Unfavorable weather hampers rescue operation after avalanche in Norway

Four tourists from Sweden and Finland were still missing on Thursday, a day after they were feared to have been swept away by an avalanche in Arctic Norway, police said. The avalanche occurred on Wednesday in the northern Norwegian region of Troms in an area popular with skiers. Three Finns and a Swede were skiing in the area and were reported to police as missing at around 1500 GMT, police said. Weather conditions did not allow rescue crew to continue their work on Thursday, although the searches were not called off.

"The snow mass is huge. There is a high risk of triggering a new avalanche ... and there is a small storm in the area," Troms Police Chief Astrid Elisabeth Nilsen told a news conference. Ski tracks were spotted going into the avalanche but not coming out. "Police assume that the four were taken by the avalanche," Troms police said in a statement earlier on Thursday.

(With inputs from agencies.)