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Rescue workers in an avalanche operation in Sölden: five buried winter sports enthusiasts were saved there
Photo:
Zoom.Tirol / dpa
Five people were killed in an avalanche in the Austrian state of Tyrol.
One person was injured and flown to Switzerland, said a police spokesman for the dpa news agency.
The accident happened in the Spiss area, a town on the Swiss border.
Information on the origin and identity of the victims is not known.
The search operation in the snow masses on the Fliess Stieralpe is 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 is 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.
Warning level 3 of 5
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.
One of them reached a secured slope in the popular ski resort of Sölden and buried five winter sports enthusiasts.
They were rescued alive, four of them had to be hospitalized with injuries.
20-year-old survives avalanche
The Austrian authorities had already warned of a significant avalanche danger in Tyrol on Thursday.
A German skier survived an avalanche.
The 20-year-old was completely buried by the avalanche in the Innsbruck-Land district on Thursday – and was rescued around 15 minutes later, the Austrian news agency APA reported, citing the police.
According to the police, the woman was found at a depth of 1 to 1.5 meters.
She was reportedly unconscious, but her breathing and circulation were still working.
It was "a total stroke of luck" if you survived buried for so long, said a police spokesman.
The woman, who lives in Innsbruck, 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.
Since the beginning of the week, 50 centimeters to 1.20 meters of snow had fallen in Tyrol, locally even up to two meters.
The state police headquarters in Tyrol reported avalanches on Thursday in which skiers were partially buried.
ptz/dpa
