A woman was found dead in the Höllentalklamm after the flash flood, a person is still missing – now the question of possible omissions is being raised. Could the accident have been avoided?
Grainau – After the tidal wave, helpers had been looking for the two missing persons in the Höllentalklamm on the Zugspitze until late at night, and on Tuesday morning the sad certainty was that any help would come too late for a woman. Special forces could only rescue them dead from the floods.
The search for another missing person was suspended for the time being on Tuesday afternoon. All relevant areas had been searched several times, but without success, said a police spokesman. If the person is still in the gorge near Grainau in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district, there is little hope of finding them alive in view of the time that has passed since the accident and the large amounts of water. Meanwhile, questions were raised about possible responsibility for the accident.
In the mountains there is usually a high degree of personal responsibility, not least in bad weather. The Munich II public prosecutor’s office nevertheless initiated preliminary investigations to check whether a criminal act was in the room, said the authority’s spokeswoman, Andrea Mayer. The suspicion of negligent homicide is in the room. So far, however, the reviews have not been directed against specific persons.
Eight people were rescued from the gorge near Grainau in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district on the Monday after the accident. According to eyewitnesses, the last two missing had been standing on a wooden bridge over the Hammersbach at the upper exit of the gorge when the wave came. The bridge was therefore flooded or partly torn away.
The dead woman is almost certainly one of the two missing people, said a police spokesman. Your identity is still unclear. The body was seen lifeless in the water around 8:30 a.m. Helpers hid him.
A police helicopter and drones had supported the search for the missing person on Tuesday morning and secured helpers. Sometimes the special forces from the mountain rescue service and police worked their way through the water on ropes. The gorge also carried a lot of water on Tuesday – not a safe use. According to the police, a good 150 people took part again on Tuesday. They searched the water of the Loisach far below Garmisch-Partenkirchen, into which the Hammersbach flows.
The site of the accident at the bridge above the gorge is best known for the danger of falling rocks. Despite warning signs, hikers keep settling there for snacks. There have already been accidents there with falling rocks, reported Thomas Bucher, spokesman for the German Alpine Club (DAV), whose sections in the mountains maintain the paths in many places. Basically, to the knowledge of the Alpine Club, the gorge is not a particular accident hotspot.
“It’s a terrible accident, but we don’t know the exact circumstances,” said Bucher. In dangerous weather conditions, visits to the entrance to the gorge below are strongly discouraged – if the ticket booth there is occupied. From above, however, where the accident occurred, access is free.
The gorge is said to have been open on the day of the accident. The German Weather Service (DWD) had warned on Sunday afternoon of stormy developments in the Alpine region. On the night of Monday, advance information was issued for the region with the possibility of up to 40 liters of rain per square meter and hour. During the course of Monday, updates were made and warnings of rainfalls and thunderstorms with smaller amounts of rain up to 25 liters.
How it could come to a tidal wave in this previously unknown dimension is open. Speculations that trees or branches could have formed a dam that suddenly broke have not yet been confirmed, according to police spokesman Dominik Schrankl.
According to reports, the force of the water surprised locals and locals alike. Grainau’s First Mayor Stephan Märkl (CSU) did not comment on the accident despite inquiries.
After the tidal wave, several dozen people were initially stuck in huts above – the Knappenhäuser and the Höllentalangerhütte. From there, mountain rescue workers safely brought more than 100 people down another route into the valley on Tuesday. dpa
