Four Swedish citizens and their guide have been killed in an avalanche in the Austrian state of Tyrol, near the border with Switzerland. Alois Jager, mayor of the Austrian border village of Spiss, said on Saturday that the whole community was "deeply saddened" and expressed his condolences to the victims' families. Authorities in Austria are warning of a "considerable" risk of avalanches in the west of the country, after nine people were killed within 24 hours. Police said eight people died in three separate incidents in the states of Vorarlberg and Tyrol on Friday. On Saturday, Tyrol authorities reported the death of one person near the village of Schmirn in an avalanche, with a second person missing. Another avalanche in the Tyrol ski resort of Solden buried five people. They were all rescued. Officials said that even slight tremors could trigger a snow slide. "The new snow that has come has made conditions quite extreme and then you just have to pay much more attention to the nature," said Mr Jager. At least 31 avalanches had been reported by Friday afternoon.