British schoolboy, 14, seriously injured after plunging 100ft during ski trip in Austria

A British teenager has been seriously injured after plunging 100ft off a glacier during a ski trip in Austria.

The schoolboy, aged 14, crashed when approaching a bend while taking part in a training session on Wednesday, causing him to smash through a fence at high speed. 

He then plunged around 100ft - or 30m - down a steep precipice, resulting in serious facial and back injuries. 

Mountain rescue attended the scene to provide the boy with medical treatment and he was airlifted to hospital shortly thereafter. 

The accident took place on Wednesday, October 21, at 11.30am local time at Hintertux Glacier ski resort in Zillertal Valley, west Austria. 

Police have confirmed the teenager fell while trying to navigate a bend on the slope, but have not yet released his name.

The boy had been attempting a red run classified as intermediate difficulty at the time of the incident, with the safety fence erected to stop skiers from leaving the marked slope.

Hintertux Glacier ski resort is Austria's only year-round resort, with 64 km of slopes available for skiing and snowboarding. 

The accident comes following a string of ski-related incidents in recent months. 

In April, a 45-year-old British man died when going down a slope in the Alpine resort of Les Menuires after suddenly going into cardiac arrest.

A first aider who was nearby rushed to the scene before paramedics arrived and tried to resuscitate him, but to no avail. 

Bad weather conditions meant that a medical helicopter could not be deployed to the area, according to local French media. 

A 43-year-old British snowboarder also died in March after plunging 330 feet from a rocky ledge in an off-piste area near the La Plagne ski resort in the French Alps.

An investigation established he had last been seen using the ski lifts in the Bécoin area, with the ski patrol on the site alerted to his disappearance at around 2.15pm.