An avalanche buried several people in an Austrian ski area. Eight people can quickly locate the rescuers. First of all, there is talk of two other missing people. But this information is not confirmed in the end.
After the avalanche in the Austrian ski area Lech Zürs am Arlberg, the last two missing winter sports enthusiasts were rescued in the morning after a large-scale search operation. According to the current state of knowledge, it can be assumed that no one is missing, the police said. Eight winter athletes got off lightly, said Hermann Fercher from the Operations Center.
According to the Austrian news agency APA, the avalanche went off around 3 p.m. on Sunday in the area of the 2,720 meter high Trittkopf, foothills even reached the ski slope. Initially, the authorities assumed that there were possibly ten buried people.
The police relied on the video of a skier. Six people could be seen on it, but according to the police, they were not caught by the avalanche. The emergency services had previously rescued a winter sports enthusiast, another was able to free himself and was later treated in the hospital. After two missing persons, the emergency services continued to search on Sunday evening.
The rescue and search operation with helicopters and avalanche detection dogs continued after dark. According to APA, eight helicopters, more than 200 rescue workers and avalanche detection dogs were used in the rescue and search operation.
At the weekend, the rescue workers warned of a high risk of avalanches in this area and in neighboring Tyrol and pointed out the fragility of the snow cover at milder temperatures. In recent years, around 20 people have died in avalanches in Austria every year.
