Five mountain climbers have died and another was left seriously injured after an apparent accident in the Austrian Alps.

The Austrian Red Cross said it appeared the climbers were roped together and fell from Mount Gabler, east of Innsbruck.

Five helicopters were dispatched to the scene as a rescue operation was launched.

Nationalities of the victims have not yet been determined and it remains unclear how the climbers died, a Red Cross official told Austria Press Agency.

It came as three mountain climbers were killed while climbing a glacier in the Italian Alps.

Two of the victims fell into a crevasse in Adamello Brent Park near Trento and were part of a group of nine mountaineers roped together, ANSA news agency reports.

Another climber was rescued but later died of their injuries, it added.