Unfortunately, what was feared in advance has happened. Already on Saturday morning there were several avalanches in Tyrol. In St. Anton am Arlberg, a major search operation has started for apparently two buried winter sports enthusiasts. But then the operation had to be interrupted. Too dangerous! There is now a death to mourn in the Tyrolean Zillertal. In Vorarlberg, a man who had been buried by masses of snow could only be recovered dead. By 1 p.m., the Tyrol control center alone had already reported 16 avalanches – nine of them involving people.
At around 10:20 a.m., the avalanche in St. Anton in the “Törli” area was reported to the Tyrol control center. “A search operation was initially launched. Two emergency helicopters and the police helicopter were also deployed,” police spokesman Stefan Eder told the “Krone”. Two people are believed to have been buried. Search interrupted, next attempt at 2.30 p.m. At around 11 a.m. the search was interrupted. The situation is too dangerous, an operation for the rescue workers too risky. In the meantime, the buried people could at least be located. The local avalanche commission constantly assesses the situation. “It is currently planned that the rescue will be tried again at 2.30 p.m.,” said the control center in response to a “Krone” request. Fatalities in the Zillertal An avalanche in Kaltenbach in the Tyrolean Zillertal already ended tragically: around 11.30 a.m. a winter sportsman was killed there buried in open terrain by masses of snow. The man died – allegedly it was a New Zealander. Numerous other missions In Schwendau and on the Tux main ridge (both Zillertal) two people were (partially) buried and injured in avalanches. In Fieberbrunn (Kitzbühel district), two people were also transported into the valley after an avalanche with injuries. Stormy wind and fresh snow, sometimes fog, made the conditions for the rescuers and the helicopter crews more difficult. By 1 p.m., the control center had already counted a total of 16 avalanches in Tyrol. Nine of them with personal participation. In the remaining cases, it was about so-called negative avalanches that were reported and in which no one was involved. Avalanche warning level 4 in Tyrol In Tyrol, there is a great avalanche danger these days. The experts from the avalanche warning service issued level four of the five-part scale for large parts of the country on Saturday. “The conditions away from the slopes are very tricky. The current avalanche situation requires great restraint!” Individual athletes can trigger avalanches. Medium and large avalanches are to be expected, even spontaneously. The situation is particularly precarious above the tree line. “The danger relates primarily to alpine snow sports terrain. Fresh snow and snowdrifts can be triggered very easily at all exposures, even by individual winter sports enthusiasts. The danger spots are widespread and hardly recognizable even for experienced people. Caution is also required in the area of the tree line and below it,” the experts continue to emphasize. It was only on Friday afternoon in the Ötztal that a 32-year-old Chinese was swept away 100 meters by a slab of snow and buried. The man died. Man in Vorarlberg was found dead from snow masses A man in Kleinwalsertal in Vorarlberg has been missing since Friday evening. A search operation for him was initiated. On Saturday morning it was sad certainty: the man was no longer alive. He was found dead under a mass of snow. An avalanche may have carried away the victim.
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