Fell to death while skiing: Two young Bavarians have an accident near Kitzbühel

Two friendly families from Bavaria spend the time between the holidays in Kitzbühel, Austria.

Fell to death while skiing: Two young Bavarians have an accident near Kitzbühel

Two friendly families from Bavaria spend the time between the holidays in Kitzbühel, Austria. But the holiday comes to a tragic end: two 17-year-olds apparently fall off the piste while skiing and fall 60 meters down.

Two 17-year-old German skiers died in an accident in the Steinplatte-Waidring ski area in the Kitzbühel district of Austria. The two young people were traveling at very high speed on a red runway when they drove over the right edge of the runway and fell about 60 meters deep over mountain pastures and meadows, some of which were interspersed with stones, the Tyrol police said, referring to eyewitness reports.

According to the information, first responders on site began immediately with first aid measures. The crew of two rescue helicopters continued the resuscitation measures. Both young skiers still succumbed to their serious injuries at the scene of the accident.

As the Austrian broadcaster ORF reports, the two 17-year-olds came from Bavaria and belonged to two families who were friends who had vacationed together in Kitzbühel. As reported by Bayerischer Rundfunk, one family came from the Berchtesgaden area, the other from the Upper Palatinate.

According to witnesses, shortly after 11 a.m., the two were driving at high speed on runway number 13, which is called "race track". According to the Austrian news agency APA, a police spokesman warned of the currently particularly high danger of driving too fast: "There is simply very little snow next to the slope."

It was only on Monday that a 12-year-old had fallen off the piste and died in a fatal accident in the Spieljoch ski area in the Austrian town of Fügenberg. According to reports, she lost her balance due to a driving error and crashed into a tree. The girl succumbed to her injuries in hospital.