- Five people were killed in an avalanche in the Austrian state of Tyrol.
- The accident happened in the Spiss area, a town on the Swiss border. One person was flown to Switzerland injured, said a police spokesman for the German Press Agency.
- The search operation in the snow masses on the Fliesser Stieralpe was still in progress in the afternoon.
The spokesman did not provide any information on the number of missing people or the origin of the victims. It was one of the worst avalanche accidents in Austria this season. At the beginning of December, three ski hikers in Salzburger Land were killed by masses of snow and two others were injured.
According to Austria’s avalanche warning system, there is considerable danger in large parts of the mountains – the third level on the five-part risk scale. Most avalanche accidents usually happen in this medium danger situation. In Tyrol alone, 13 avalanches were released by the afternoon on Friday.
Rapid rescue in case of another avalanche
A German skier who was buried in the Tyrolean Glungezer ski area was also lucky in misfortune. Thanks to a quick search by her companions, she was rescued alive after 15 minutes. According to the police, she was found at a depth of 1 to 1.5 meters. The woman was unconscious, but her breathing and circulation were still functioning. “In any case, it’s a total stroke of luck if you survive for 15 minutes,” said the police spokesman.
The woman was flown to a hospital with injuries. The woman and her colleagues were well equipped with electronic tracking devices, avalanche probes and shovels in the ski area. According to experts, rapid rescue by companions is of crucial importance, since the chances of survival for those buried under the snow decrease rapidly within a short period of time.