Man dies in avalanche in northern Italy while searching for his dogs

A 60-year-old man on Tuesday died in an avalanche in northern Italy while looking for his two dogs, local media reported on Wednesday.

Michele Buga, originally from Romania, was initially surprised by bad weather and got lost on Saturday while he was hiking with his two huskies in the mountains of Valle Spluga.

Valle Spluga is in the northern Italian province of Sondrio near the border with Switzerland, news agency ANSA reported.

After calling for help he managed to get back to the bottom of the valley on his own on Saturday night.

Rescuers located the two dogs but could not get them to follow them.

So the man returned to the mountains to bring the dogs back when he was hit by an avalanche at an altitude of about 2,000 metres.(dpa/NAN)