Avalanches cause considerable danger in Austria and Bavaria. Several people lose their lives.
Update from Sunday, February 6th, 2022, 9.15 a.m .: After the avalanche accident in Spiss with five dead on Friday (see update from Saturday, 8 p.m.) there is also a series of avalanche accidents with several dead and injured on Saturday in Austria and Bavaria came.
On Saturday, one person was killed by an avalanche in the Tyrolean municipality of Schmirn and in the Upper Bavarian region of Berchtesgarden. As the Berchtesgarden police announced, two ski tourers from Austria were swept away by an avalanche while climbing the almost 2500 meter high Steintalhörndl. For a 61-year-old, any help came too late, his 41-year-old companion was flown to a hospital with serious injuries. The two men were about 150 meters below the summit in very steep terrain when a massive slab of snow came loose and carried them away.
In Schmirn, south of Innsbruck, five winter sports enthusiasts were buried below the Gammerspitze, as reported by the Austrian news agency APA. One person died and four others were rescued alive but injured and flown to a hospital.
According to the police, two winter sports enthusiasts who had previously been reported missing were found dead in Auffach, also in Tyrol, on Friday evening. In Vorarlberg, a skier had a fatal accident off the piste. On Saturday there was considerable danger throughout Tyrol with avalanche warning level 3.
Avalanche accident in Tyrol: number of victims increases
Update from Saturday, February 5th, 2022, 8 p.m.: The number of victims who died in an avalanche accident in Tyrol on Friday (February 4th, 2022) has increased to five people. In addition, a woman was injured in the accident near the Swiss border, said a representative of the Austrian rescue workers. They were therefore off the slopes when they were hit by the snow masses. Information on the identity and nationality of the victims was initially not available.
The weather authorities had called for increased caution because of the intense snowfall this week. More than 50 avalanches were recorded in Tyrol within 48 hours. According to the rescue workers, five more people were buried in the Sölden ski resort. But they could all be saved.
Every year around 20 people die in avalanches in Austria. Last year the number was a little lower because there were fewer people on the slopes due to the Corona * pandemic.
Four dead in an avalanche accident in Tyrol: dramatic search for missing people
First report from February 4th, 2021, 5:00 p.m.: Spiss – Four people were killed in an avalanche in the Austrian state of Tyrol on Friday (February 4th, 2022). The accident happened in the Spiss area, a town on the Swiss border.
One person was flown to Switzerland injured, said a police spokesman for the dpa. The search operation in the snow masses on the Fliess Stieralpe was still going on in the afternoon. The spokesman did not provide any information on the number of missing people or the origin of the victims.
Austria: avalanche accident one of the heaviest of the season
It was one of the worst avalanche accidents in Austria this season. At the beginning of December, three ski hikers in Salzburger Land were killed by masses of snow and two others were injured.
According to Austria’s avalanche warning system, there is considerable danger in large parts of the mountains – the third level on the five-part risk scale. Most avalanche accidents usually happen in this medium danger situation.
In Tyrol alone, 13 avalanches were released by the afternoon on Friday. One of them reached a secured slope in the popular ski resort of Sölden and buried five winter sports enthusiasts. They were recovered alive.
Tyrol: German skier was recently lucky in misfortune
A German skier who was buried in the Glungezer ski area in Tyrol was also lucky in misfortune. Thanks to a quick search by her companions, she was rescued alive after 15 minutes. According to the police, she was found at a depth of 1 to 1.5 meters. The woman was unconscious, but her breathing and circulation were still functioning. “In any case, if you survive for 15 minutes, it’s a total stroke of luck,” said the police spokesman. The woman, who lives in Innsbruck, was flown to a hospital with injuries. (svw/dpa) *fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
Headline list image: © Zeitungsfoto.At/APA/dpa
