Kosovo avalanche kills seven

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Kosovo avalanche kills seven

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Heavy snow has been blanketing the Balkans for more than two weeks.

15 February,2012 11:52 am

Officials say four more bodies have been found after an avalanche struck a mountain village in southern Kosovo, bringing the death toll to at least seven. Three people are still missing, but a 5-year-old girl was pulled alive from the snow.Local district official Behar Ramadani said the girl was rescued from the 10-meter-deep (33-feet-deep) snow after the avalanche destroyed seven houses in the village of Restelica in the region bordering Macedonia and Albania on Saturday.The rescuers mostly local villagers using shovels first dug out the bodies of a married couple and their 17-year-old son. Four more bodies were discovered underneath the rubble and snow during an overnight operation.Heavy snow has been blanketing the Balkans for more than two weeks. The cold snap in Europe has killed hundreds of people, most of them homeless.