Image: Hallstatt Mountain Rescue
A large-scale search for the 73-year-old man from Bavaria is currently underway. The experienced mountaineer climbed the Hirlatz on Friday around 8 a.m. via an unmarked hunting trail. Shortly before 2 p.m. he called his wife and said he had lost his bearings and had to turn back. When he still hadn’t come back in the evening, the woman finally called the mountain rescue service. The mountain rescuers searched from the ground and from the air until 2.30 a.m. before the rescue operation had to be stopped for the time being.
The search for the missing person has been ongoing since 7 a.m. Since the man’s mobile phone can still be located, mountain rescue and alpine police are currently narrowing down the search area. The terrain is quite treacherous, says Christoph Preimesberger from the Hallstatt mountain rescue service: “The path that the man climbed is demanding, both in terms of height and route. Good local knowledge is required for this. In addition, there is still snow higher up.”
Ten mountain rescuers from Hallstatt, three alpine police officers and four dog handlers are on duty.
Source: Nachrichten
