A FAMILY airlifted to safety from the disaster-hit Austrian ski resort of Galtur have been reunited with relieved relatives.

Cliff Marks, 50, his wife Janette, 43, and ten-year-old daughter Danielle arrived at Gatwick from Munich, looking shocked and tired after their ordeal.

Two massive avalanches that struck the outskirts of the popular resort on Monday have claimed 29 lives.

And the death toll reached 33 after a further avalanche hit the nearby village of Valzur on Wednesday night.

The family, from Cox Green, near Horsham, thought they were to be trapped in the resort until next week.

elicopter

But yesterday Austrian authorities, concerned that further avalanches could strike, decided to evacuate the entire region.

Mr and Mrs Marks and their daughter, who attends Farlington School, Horsham, were among thousands taken to safety by one of the many US helicopters diverted from Bosnia to help with the evacuation operation.

More than 6,000 tourists still trapped in the region were being evacuated today.

The family were greeted at Gatwick by relieved relatives, including Mrs Marks' brothers Gary and Colin, sister-in-law Carol, her parents Joyce and Les Clark, niece Jodie and Mr Marks' mother Muriel.

Muriel, of Shaws Road, Crawley, said: "I saw all these horrible things on the TV and I didn't know what to think.

"I was so relieved when Cliff phoned me."

Mrs Marks' mother Joyce, 70, from Middlesex, said: "We are all so relieved that they are finally home."

The family arrived in the resort on February 13 to stay for a week but the area was hit by some of the most severe snowfalls seen in Europe this century.

Then on Monday the fatal avalanche struck, killing 29 people.

Mr Marks said: "You just feel for all the people that have been affected by this tragedy."

And her husband added: "You just have to see it to believe it. It came from nowhere."

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