Terrifying moment enormous avalanche engulfs ski resort at Europe’s tallest mountain before sweeping over tourists as they ran for their lives

This is the terrifying moment an enormous avalanche engulfed a ski resort on Europe’s tallest mountain – sending tourists running for their lives.

Dramatic footage taken on Mount Elbrus, in southern Russia, shows a torrent of snow tearing down the mountainside on Thursday.

People watched in horror from a car park at Elbrus Resort in Kabardino-Balkaria as the avalanche barreled towards them.

Some tried to run, but were quickly swallowed by the huge snow cloud, with the area turning completely white within seconds.

Fortunately, no deaths have been reported.

Authorities had closed sections of the mountain and shut down the cable car service on January 10 due to fears of an avalanche amid dangerous weather conditions.

Mount Elbrus is Europe’s highest peak standing at 5,642 meters, and is a popular, though challenging, mountaineering destination. 

The mountain sees an estimated 15 to 30 deaths each year, often involving unprepared climbers caught out by sudden weather changes.

Footage of the avalanche has sparked debate online, with many questioning why some tourists appeared slow to flee.

One person wrote: ‘If something is coming at you, don’t stand there and look at it, get as far away as possible.’

Another added: ‘The only sensible person in this clip is the guy immediately legging it at the 8 second mark. The other guy and the cameraman not so much.’

A third said, ‘That guy doesn’t have survival instinct,’ while a fourth wrote, ‘I don’t get why they didn’t run.’

Avalanches have killed at least 17 people have been killed by avalanches in Europe in the past month, amid ‘extreme risk’ warnings from regional authorities.

This past weekend alone, eight people died in avalanches, with several incidents involving off-piste skiers in the Alps.

In one tragic event, a Brit, believed to be in his 50s, was skiing off-piste at the La Plagne resort in south-eastern France.

The resort said rescue teams were alerted to an avalanche at 1:57pm on Sunday and immediately dispatched to the scene.

More than 50 responders, including medics, ski instructors and a piste dog deployed by helicopter, took part in the search.

The man was located after around 50 minutes, buried beneath eight feet of snow, but could not be revived.

The death was one of three avalanche fatalities involving off-piste skiers in the French Alps on Sunday.

In Vallorcine, Haute-Savoie, a 32-year-old ski patroller was swept away by an avalanche and killed, Le Monde reported.

Although he was not buried, the force of the snow threw him against a tree, causing fatal injuries, according to the Chamonix High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon (PGHM).

Rescue teams also recovered the body of another skier buried in an avalanche in Courchevel, though authorities provided no further details.

On Saturday, two skiers were killed in Val-d’Isère, in the Savoie region, after being buried beneath 2.5 metres of snow.

Another skier died the same day at the Arêches-Beaufort resort, also in Savoie, after being caught in an avalanche while skiing off-piste with a companion.

Elsewhere in Europe, a female skier died in Austria after being buried by an avalanche on Weerberg mountain in the Schwaz district of Tyrol on Sunday afternoon.

She was rescued in critical condition but later died in hospital in Innsbruck.

In Italy, a man was killed by an avalanche above the northern city of Aosta on Saturday. He was swept away below Pointe de la Pierre and fatally injured.

His body was recovered by the Aosta Valley avalanche rescue service with assistance from the fire department.

The avalanche occurred along a route popular with ski tourers, mountain rescue officials said.