Schönau am Königssee (dpa / lby) - The number of fatal mountain accidents has reached a new high in the Bavarian Alps. In the first half of the year alone, 30 people died in southern Upper Bavaria - after 19 in the previous year, as Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann and Justice Minister Georg Eisenreich (both CSU) announced on Tuesday during a rescue exercise on the Jennerbahn in Schönau am Königssee.
The numbers had already reached a sad peak in 2021 with 55 mountain deaths in the region concerned - it was the highest level since records began in 2009. "Don't overestimate yourself, find out more and take the dangers in the Alps seriously ' warned Herrman. He reminded of the "SOS-EU-Alp" app, which can be used to quickly alert rescuers.
"In 2021, more people died in the mountains in the Berchtesgadener Land district than on the road," said Eisenreich. The prerequisite for tours is the right equipment and good preparation with the right choice of route. "It is important to assess yourself correctly." More and more amateur mountaineers are relying on expensive equipment and apps, the minister warned.
It was only in June that more than 100 schoolchildren and teachers from the Ludwigshafen area who had got into mountain trouble had to be rescued in the Austrian Kleinwalsertal. The teachers had chosen a route from the Internet that was too difficult for the group's equipment and skills, and the route turned out to be far more risky than described.
