Sadness and hope after two searches

2023-07-31 02:22:00

ZELL AM MOOS. The mast was stuck in the bottom of the lake, the bow pointed upwards: 50 meters from the shore of the Irrsee, the fire brigade found what they were looking for on Saturday evening, but hope was gone. The sailing boat, with which an 82-year-old from Salzburg left alone in the early afternoon, had capsized. There was no trace of the pensioner.

His wife sounded the alarm after a storm hit the lake near Zell am Moos (Vöcklabruck district) and her husband had not returned from his trip. An eyewitness also reported: She observed the capsizing and saw a man swimming next to the boat. She assumed he had made it to safe shore. But where the firefighters tried to find a clue, there was only thick reeds.

The police helicopter circled the lake, as did the fire brigade drones. Only when 19 divers from the water rescue and fire brigade searched the bottom of the lake was the man from Salzburg found – his body was lying a few meters from the boat at a depth of seven meters.

Still hope in Bad Ischl

In the Steinbruch district of Bad Ischl, hope has not yet disappeared – although there has also been no sign of life from an 80-year-old Viennese since Saturday night. The man, who suffers from dementia, had left his holiday home and left no trace.

More than 100 rescuers from the Red Cross, fire brigade, mountain rescue and police were also looking for the Viennese in Bad Goisern until the evening. Search dogs were used for support, but their keen sense of smell did not lead to success either.

Numerous tips from the population went nowhere, and finally the large-scale operation was canceled due to the enormous search area. It should only be resumed when there are concrete indications of the whereabouts of the man. The hope of the relatives is nourished above all by the fact that the 80-year-old had already been searched for and found in a garden shed.