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As reported, five people lost their lives in storms in Austria. In St. Andrä in Carinthian Lavanttal, a tree fell on a group of people yesterday afternoon, for two girls any help came too late. In Gaming (Lower Austria) three people were killed by a tree. As it became known on Friday, an Upper Austrian was also among the fatalities.
According to the police, the women were 52, 57 and 58 years old. They came from the districts of Melk and Kirchdorf in Upper Austria. Two other women were unharmed. According to the Lower Austria State Police Headquarters, the group of five on the Lower Austrian state circular hiking trail “Alpinweg” descending from the Herrenalm in the direction of the Taglsbach car park in the municipality of Gaming was surprised by a violent storm with hailstorms and extreme wind peaks around 5 p.m. As a result, numerous beech and spruce trees fell over, one of the trees hit the two Lower Austrians and the 57-year-old Upper Austrian.
Two women were unharmed
According to the police, the uninjured hikers wanted to make an emergency call, but this was not possible because there was no mobile phone network. The women therefore ran to the Taglsbach car park, where they met a bystander and asked to make an emergency call. This happened at 5:45 p.m.
With the Red Cross, the mountain rescue service “Christophorus 15”, the fire brigade and the police were also alerted. The helicopter’s emergency doctor could only determine the death of the three women. The victims were brought to a forest road by the mountain rescue service.
The alpine police began their first surveys on Thursday evening. It was determined that the fallen trees had apparently not shown any previous damage and had obviously fallen over due to the storm. Due to the ongoing danger, the “Alpinweg” and the forest road/hiking trail from Seehof in the direction of Mittersee, Obersee, Herrenalm were officially closed by the Scheibbs district authority until next Monday.
Source: Nachrichten
