WELLINGTON, Dec 31 AFP) - Three people were killed and three injured in an avalanche on New Zealand's notorious Aoraki-Mt Cook Wednesday, rescue workers said.

The nationalities of the dead were not immediately available.

Gail Adams of Garden City Helicopters, one of several rescue services mobilised by police, said rescuers were in the process of getting to the site where the six were hit.

Mt Cook, New Zealand's highest peak at 3,754 metres (12,388 feet), has been described as a playground for adrenaline junkies and attracts thousands of visitors from around the world each year.

Four Latvian climbers plummeted to their deaths in early December and there have been at least seven other rescue operations since the southern summer climbing season began.

Police called for teams of search dogs and rescue helicopters to be sent to Mt Cook when the avalanche was reported just before 9.00am (2000 GMT Tuesday).

"We were told several people were believed to be in the avalanche area," said Adams.

Dunedin-based Lion Foundation rescue helicopter pilot Stuart Farquhar said he believed search and rescue teams with dogs were sent to the area, which was at a height of about 2800m.

Mt Cook, in New Zealand's Southern Alps, has claimed a heavy toll since it was first scaled 99 years with more than 200 people killed.

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