The group of four men who went on a private ski tour on the Ötscher (Scheibbs district) in Lower Austria yesterday morning should have been well prepared for the trip: According to the police, one of them was an alpine police officer, another mountain rescuer. The conditions also seemed perfect: bright sunshine and the lowest avalanche warning level. All four men came from the region and, according to the executive, were experienced tourers.
But when the group was walking in a gully on the north side of the Ötscher shortly before noon, they were surprised by an avalanche. In the “Juckfidelplan” the masses of snow buried three of the winter sports enthusiasts completely, the fourth partially.
The emergency services were alerted at around 11:30 a.m., and a little later several helicopters arrived at the difficult-to-access site, including three emergency doctor helicopters from the ÖAMTC. Emergency services, mountain rescue and the police searched the area for the buried people.
- ZIB 1 report:
However, the three men who had been completely buried could only be recovered dead. The fourth winter athlete, who was partially buried, was flown to the hospital with serious injuries. Because it was initially unclear after the accident whether other people had been buried by the snow masses, the alpine police and mountain rescue teams searched the avalanche field for several hours in the afternoon. Avalanche detection dogs and helicopters were also used.
“It leaves you speechless”
The death of the three alpinists is a tragic event, said Matthias Cernusca, head of the Lower Austria mountain rescue service, in an ORF interview. “It leaves you speechless,” said Cernusca.
“The emergency services on site were severely shaken by the tragic event,” said police spokesman Raimund Schwaigerlehner. The mountain rescuers may have known the buried people.
The police are now investigating how the accident could have happened despite the low risk of avalanches.
Source: Nachrichten
