Parts of Austria, southern Germany sink deeper into snow

Several railway lines in the Alps were closed because of the snow, trucks and cars got stuck for hours on a highway in southwestern Germany and schools were closed in parts of Bavaria.

Roads into several places were closed — although Galtuer in western Austria, where a massive avalanche in 1999 killed 31 people, was reachable again on Thursday after being cut off.

The Austrian minister responsible for tourism, Elisabeth Koestinger, said that "in most skiing areas, there is no reason for concern at present if people keep to the rules and don't leave the secured slopes."