Four Germans were killed in one day in the event of avalanches in the Alps. In Switzerland, a German tour goer was buried by an avalanche on Saturday. He died a few hours later.
As the police said on Sunday, the 55-year-old died in the hospital in Bern. The man from Baden-Württemberg was on his way to the Stieltihorn with his son, leaving the ski slopes below the Gandegg station. At an altitude of around 2700 meters, the father was carried away by an avalanche.
His son then alarmed the rescue workers, located his father with a search device and began to shovel him free. The rescue workers were able to rescue the man from a depth of two meters. He was seriously injured by helicopter and flown to the Inselspital in Bern, where he died on Saturday evening.
Two seven year old girls, one 35 year old woman
A woman and two seven-year-old girls also died in South Tyrol on Saturday. A father and his 11-year-old son were injured in the accident in Val Senales. According to Carabinieri, the five vacationers come from Thuringia and North Rhine-Westphalia. According to the Mountain Rescue Service, other buried subjects should not be under the snow.
According to their own statements, the police have so far no evidence that the snowboard was triggered by ski tourers off the piste. There was a very strong wind and a rise in temperature, a spokesman for the Carabinieri said on Sunday. This favors natural triggering of avalanches. The prosecutor's office is for investigations at the scene of the accident.
According to the "Bild am Sonntag", Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer (CSU) is said to have visited relatives of the casualties on Saturday evening to condolate them. Accordingly, Scheuer went on vacation in the same region in South Tyrol. A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport confirmed that the minister was privately in the place.
Thuringia's prime minister is shocked
According to new information from the police, the dead are a 35-year-old woman from Thuringia - previously the police had specified the age at 25. Her seven-year-old daughter also died later, despite resuscitation measures. The father was there too, but was not hit by the avalanche. In addition, a seven-year-old girl from Eschweiler in North Rhine-Westphalia died, the spokesman said.
Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) was shocked by the avalanche disaster. "Great suffering was brought about here by a family who simply wanted to take their well-deserved winter vacation," said Ramelow. The state government would offer their relatives their support. The case shows once again that capers of nature should not be underestimated - especially since there was obviously no avalanche warning.