Vienna - The pric

Vienna - Up to 15 people were feared to be buried by a large avalanche Sunday in the Hinterstoder skiing area in Austria, according to media reports.

Witnesses saw the avalanche at around 10:30 local time and reported that between 10 and 15 backcountry skiers were trapped under the snow. Police told Austrian press agency APA that they assumed that "several" people were buried.

Up to 40 rescue workers and several several helicopters were dispatched to the site in the Upper Austria province.

Vienna - Up to 15 people were feared to be buried by an avalanche that went off on Sunday in

Vienna  - Overnight stays in the Austrian capital Vienna plunged 9.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, official data showed Friday.

The tourism industry plays a vital part in the Austrian economy, but has been severely hit by the global economic downturn.

In March, numbers fell by 15.1 per cent year-on-year, with 37 per cent less tourist stays from Italy and 28 per cent less from the United States, according to the latest figures from the Vienna Tourism Board.

Vienna  - The world economy will grow slightly in 2009, Luxembourg premier and euro group chief Jean-Claude Juncker predicted Friday, one day after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that the global recovery could last more than three years.

Instead of choosing the path of massive lay-offs, European economies should "look trustingly to the year 2010, which will see a recovery, if only a slight one," Juncker told reporters in Vienna after meeting Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann.