The 81-year-old is believed to be in the Dachstein area. On Monday, the search was intensified on the Upper Austrian side, but was unsuccessful for the time being. The search was carried out in small groups with search dogs and from the air with a helicopter. In the afternoon, the emergency services had to be withdrawn due to approaching thunderstorms. The mountain rescue and police operations management is now planning another search on the high plateau of the Dachstein plateau for Tuesday morning.
Last sign of life on Friday
Hell is said to have set out from his alpine hut on the Grafenbergalm on Friday morning to hike over the Heilbronnerkreuz to the Obertrauner Landfried, as the mountain rescue service announced in a press release on Monday. At around 11 a.m. he is said to have met other hikers at the Loskoppen. He told them that he wanted to look out for his cows. Then the trail goes cold. The 81-year-old did not reach his actual destination.
After a friend did not find him in his hut on Sunday, he contacted the emergency services. On Sunday, units from the Upper Austrian and Styrian regional groups of mountain rescue, alpine police, federal army and fire brigade searched the area extensively, and the police supported the search with helicopters. In the evening, after darkness fell, the operation had to be called off.
Search resumed on Monday
The search was resumed and expanded on Monday morning at around 7:30 a.m. More than 30 mountain rescuers from Obertraun and Hallstatt were deployed together with the police’s alpine task force and several search dogs. The extensive search area was scanned with a tracking device (“RECCO”).
Hell, who is well-versed in the area, knows the Dachstein area very well and therefore often travels on less well-known paths, which makes the search even more difficult, according to the mountain rescue service. Because it is suspected that the missing person could be in Upper Austria, the operation is being coordinated by the Gmunden Alpine Police.
This year, Hell received the Styrian Literature Prize. The Salzburg native spends his summers in an alpine hut on the Grafenbergalm, where he not only looks after around 100 animals, but also writes his books.
Localization: Hell apparently planned to hike via the Heilbronnerkreuz to the Obertrauner Landfried
This article was last updated at 16:54.
