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Danger of avalanches in large parts of Austria: two dead, several buried

Danger of avalanches in large parts of Austria: two dead, several buried
Numerous rescue operations. Despite all the warnings – the warning level was four on the five-part scale – winter sports enthusiasts were out and about in open terrain.
Image: ZOOM.TYROL (APA)

The avalanche dead in Kaltenbach is said to be a 17-year-old New Zealand tourist, the variant driver was apparently alone in the open ski area. The police confirmed one fatality, further information was not given out of consideration for relatives for the time being. In the Kleinwalsertal, any help came too late for a winter sports enthusiast. The man had been missing since Friday evening, and the man in his mid-fifties was discovered dead under snow masses in the Walmendinger Alpe area in the late morning after another search operation.

In St. Anton am Arlberg, two people were buried by avalanches. The search for them was initially interrupted because the situation was too dangerous for the rescuers. The people and their avalanche beeper were located during a helicopter flight, and the rescue work continued from 2:30 p.m.

In Warth am Arlberg, a 15-year-old winter sports enthusiast was rescued alive after an avalanche in the open ski area after fifteen minutes under the snow and flown to the hospital in Zams (district Landeck). “People are very irresponsible on the go and always in the free ski area – they just don’t believe it,” says Adi Rohrer from the Vorarlberg control center. Stormy winds and fresh snow made conditions difficult for rescuers and helicopter support.

So far, 17 avalanches have been reported in the Tyrolean control center, in nine cases people were involved. In Schwendau and on the Tux main ridge (both Zillertal) two people were (partially) buried and injured in avalanches. In Fieberbrunn (Kitzbühel district), two people were also transported to the valley after an avalanche with injuries.

Intense snowfall in the west

Intense snowfall and wind have increased the risk of avalanches dangerously in Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Experts from the warning services from both federal states appealed to winter sports enthusiasts to exercise great caution. Inexperienced skiers should not leave the slopes at the moment. Snowdrift accumulations could be triggered very easily at all exposures, even by individual winter sports enthusiasts. The situation was also considered tense in the Yppstal Alps in Lower Austria. The snowfall should subside over the course of the weekend, but the conditions away from the slopes are still considered to be precarious.

In Tyrol, a 32-year-old Chinese skier died in an avalanche in Ötztal on Friday, and a 15-year-old was swept away by an avalanche in the Kitzbühel district and was seriously injured.

Source: Nachrichten

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