In the Höllentalklamm near Grainau there was a tidal wave on Monday afternoon because of the heavy rain.
Emergency services rescued several people, at least one is still missing.
Update from August 17, 1:05 p.m.:
While the search for missing persons continues, the search for the cause is already running elsewhere.
Why has nobody cordoned off the Höllentalkklamm near Grainau?
Many ask that, we are looking for answers.
Update from August 17th, 12.45 p.m.:
A woman was rescued from the floods after the tidal wave in the Höllentalklamm on the Zugspitze.
Rescuers are now looking for another missing person.
Given the time and situation in the gorge, hope of saving the person alive diminishes.
Eight people were rescued from the gorge near Grainau in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district on the Monday after the accident.
According to the police, the last two still missing had stood on a wooden bridge over the Hammersbach at the upper exit of the gorge - the officials referred to eyewitnesses.
The bridge was torn away by the tidal wave.
Update from August 17th, 11:26 am:
After the tidal wave in the Höllentalklamm on the Zugspitze, the Munich II public prosecutor's office initiated preliminary investigations.
"We have initiated preliminary investigations to check whether a criminal offense is in the room," said the agency's spokeswoman, Andrea Mayer, on Tuesday to the German press agency.
The suspicion of negligent homicide is in the room.
So far, however, the reviews have not been directed against specific persons.
Update from August 17th, 10:30 a.m.:
As the police headquarters in Upper Bavaria South announced, the emergency services spotted a lifeless woman in the water around 8:30 a.m.
She could only be recovered dead.
The Kripo now determines the identity and the circumstances of death.
At least one other person is still missing.
The search in the Höllentalklamm continues.
Eight people were rescued from the floods unharmed on Monday.
Höllentalklamm: woman was found dead in the water
The Bavarian Red Cross also announced that more people were evacuated from the mountain on Tuesday morning.
Accordingly, seven people were taken from the miners' houses.
The mountain rescue team accompanied 101 people from the Höllentalangerhütte down to the valley.
Update from August 17th, 10.15 a.m.:
After the flood wave in the Höllentalklamm on the Zugspitze, the large-scale search for two missing persons is to be resumed around 12 p.m.
Individual emergency services have been in the gorge since 7:30 a.m., said a police spokesman on Tuesday morning.
On bridges below the gorge, they are on the
lookout for
clues
such as clothing.
A dozen police and mountain rescue workers who specialize in canyon rescue are ready to search.
Fall of a bridge in Höllentalklamm: Little hope of finding missing people alive
According to the police, there is no great hope of finding the two missing persons alive.
“Then this is an absolutely threatening situation.
But we leave no stone unturned, ”said a police spokesman.
The identity of the missing is still unclear.
The police are checking the guest lists in the hotels and guesthouses in and around the town to see if people are missing there.
Update from August 17, 7:31 a.m.:
The search for the two missing hikers who could not be found after the bridge tear in the Höllentalklamm on Monday is now ongoing.
The operation should start again from around 7:30 a.m., said a police spokesman on Tuesday morning.
"We don't yet know who the two missing people are."
After the accident on Monday, August 16, eight missing hikers had already been rescued in the late evening. The search for it has been suspended for the time being due to darkness and dangers. Storm cells swelled the Hammersbach near Grainau at breakneck speed. A jetty in the gorge, popular with day trippers, was swept away by the water. Despite the severe weather warning, many hikers were out and about in the gorge.
Update from August 16, 10:13 p.m.:
Eight people have now been rescued by the mountain and water rescue service.
This was announced by the Bavarian Red Cross in a press release.
“Two other people are currently missing.
Due to the darkness and the resulting increased danger, the search had to be interrupted at 8:30 p.m.
The search for missing persons is to continue tomorrow at dawn.
164 forces were deployed, ”the message continues.
Because of storms: tidal wave rushes through Höllentalklamm - difficult search for the missing
Update from August 16, 8:25 p.m.:
The Hammersbach in the Wetterstein Mountains does not come to rest. Almost 14 months after the tidal wave, which in June 2020 led to an evacuation of the Grainau district of Hammersbach in the middle of the night and flooded large parts, the torrent is again making negative headlines: Thunderstorm cells with heavy rain poured over the Höllental once more from Monday afternoon made the water swell rapidly. A footbridge above the entrance to the gorge on the mountain side was swept away. With him up to three mountain hikers who were missing at the time of this issue's editorial deadline.
"Two people are secured, but we are assuming three," reports Christian Langenmair, head of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen police station, to the media in the Grainauer Kurhaus early on Monday evening.
The bad weather made the search for the washed away people much more difficult.
Four helicopters were available, but could not be used until evening.
"For a short time, the mountain rescue service was no longer allowed into the gorge because there was simply too much water," emphasizes Langenmair.
+
Operations center hotel: The rescue workers have moved into their quarters in the Hammersbach building.
© Bartl
But there is also positive news: by the evening, the emergency services - a total of more than 140 from the mountain rescue service, water rescue service, fire brigade and Red Cross - were also able to safely bring eight people from the area around the Höllentalklamm into the valley. Six of them were in the area above the gorge and were stuck after the jetty was washed away. There were also two mountaineers who had been out and about in the terrain around the Höllental. Mayor Stephan Märkl cannot understand that there were so many people on the mountain on an afternoon when heavy storms were forecast and the weather service even issued a warning. “But we don't have that in our hands, there is nothing we can do about that.” His observation: “At around 2 p.m., the hikers' car park in Hammersbach was still two-thirds full.“Around 3 p.m., the heavy rains began.
Flood wave in the Höllentalklamm: Difficult search for missing persons
Meanwhile, the rescue machinery was starting up again very well.
After the alarm was raised around 3:45 p.m., the forces immediately set off for Hammersbach.
A hiker had reported that people had been washed away on the jetty.
The operations control center was set up in the hotel there.
Getting into the gorge was not so easy given the adverse external conditions.
“Fortunately, you can get to the gorge entrance easily by car,” says Märkl.
"From there it was around 45 minutes to the scene of the incident." Secured on a rope, the rescued were brought through the gorge into the village.
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The Hammersbach turned into a raging torrent on Monday once more.
© Bartl
The search for the missing, however, was unsuccessful until the evening.
Since the gorge is very narrow, deployment from the air is very difficult.
A special team from the Partenkirchen fire brigade was also on site with a drone.
"But we can only search as long as we still have daylight," Langenmair clarified.
The Hammersbach was monitored on its entire course up to the confluence with the Loisach; there, too, assistants were still posted at the bridges in the local area of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Bavaria).
At least the expansion of the Hammersbach after the floods of 2020 has proven itself, "even if it was significantly less water this time," notes the mayor.
"But at least for the residents in the village there was no danger."
Update from August 16, 7:20 p.m.:
Currently, the police operations management is assuming with a high degree of probability that two people are still missing.
+
Flood wave in the Höllentalklamm: the mission and the search for the missing is still ongoing.
© dpa
Update from August 16, 6:58 p.m.:
The operation is still running: Six people were rescued from the gorge by the rescuers.
They are probably all physically largely intact and are currently being brought into the valley.
Three other people are currently missing.
They are being searched for.
Update from August 16, 5:18 p.m.:
The police announced that, according to previous information, people were swept away by the masses of water.
The mountain rescue service is currently trying to save several people from the water.
Others are said to be still missing.
Grainau
- As reported by the Upper Bavaria South Police Headquarters, the heavy rain in the region triggered a tidal wave around 3:45 p.m. that rushed through the Höllentalklamm.
A bridge was probably swept away in the process.
People may also have been harmed.
Höllentalklamm (Bavaria): tidal wave rushes through hiking gorge
In addition to several patrol vehicles from the region, a helicopter is also requested to search the area.
More information is to follow.
Storms are currently raging in Upper Bavaria and the Garmisch-Partenkirchen region.
The Wettersteinalm was completely flooded and lightning struck an old barn in the Glentleiten open-air museum.
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