A teenager fights for life after being pulled from under 3m avalanche which killed his family

Six houses were hit by a midnight avalanche at Mount Otdelnaya skiing complex outside Arctic city Norilsk in the north of Krasnoyarsk region.

First reports about the avalanche were received right after midnight on Saturday, 9 January. 

Three out of six houses at the popular winter skiing base were destroyed by the snow. A family of four - the director of the local ski lift, his wife and two children - were inside one of the houses. 

More than 200 people - rescuers and volunteers - rushed to the site and have been working through the cold and stormy night to get to the houses in freezing temperatures.  

A boy aged 15 identified as Makar Popov, the couple’s eldest child, was rescued in the middle of the night and rushed to hospital where he is in grave condition. 

The teenager was badly frostbitten, sustaining multiple fractures, and was in a state of deep shock. 

The body of the woman reported to be Makar’s mother was found under the snow early in the morning on Saturday.

Several hours later bodies of her husband Vladimir Popov, 45, and the couple’s baby son aged 18 months were found by the rescuers. 

There are fears of further avalanches in the area.