Police are no longer missing – four people injured
An avalanche broke out in the Austrian ski area Lech Zürs am Arlberg on Sunday afternoon. In the meantime, the police were able to give the all-clear.
Almost 200 people were deployed in Lech to search for the buried people.
Photo: Keystone
An avalanche on Sunday in Lech/Zürs, Austria, was less severe than feared: around 1 a.m. on Monday, the police announced that although four people were injured, the other six people had not been hit by the avalanche.
Initially, ten people were searched for. “According to the current state of knowledge, it can be assumed that no more people are missing,” the statement said.
Nevertheless, a security search will be carried out on Monday for final clarification. Shortly before 3 p.m. on Sunday, a report of an avalanche in Zürs, in the area of the Trittkopf, was received. The runway below was also relocated over a length of 500 to 600 meters.
Up to 200 rescuers on duty
On the mobile phone video of a witness standing in the distance, ten winter sports enthusiasts could be seen in the area of the avalanche path. That had aroused concern about ten buried people and triggered a large-scale operation with up to 200 rescuers at times. In the course of the large-scale rescue operation, a partially buried man was rescued from the avalanche. He was flown to the hospital with serious injuries.
Since it was not clear at this point how many winter sports enthusiasts were still in the avalanche, the search was continued with seven helicopters. In the course of the evening, the people who can be seen on the video reported. Some of them drove down into the valley independently and initially did not report their involvement in the avalanche accident. Ultimately, four of the ten people were injured – one of them seriously.
Survive only with luck
It is extremely rare for avalanches to reach slopes that are considered safe, but it cannot be ruled out. Three years ago, a woman and two seven-year-old girls died in South Tyrol when a huge slab of snow broke loose at an altitude of 3,000 meters in Schnalstal and thundered down onto the slope. In Andermatt, Switzerland, there was also an incident in December 2019 in which masses of snow buried six skiers on the piste. But the misfortune ended lightly.
Surviving in an avalanche is actually only possible for a short period of time. Victims suffocate under the packed snow or succumb to their injuries. In individual cases, however, victims are lucky and there is a cavity in front of their face that allows them to breathe. Under these circumstances, winter sports enthusiasts were rescued alive even after several hours.
SDA/AFP/ij
Found a mistake?Report now.