Tragic ski accident in Austria: Two 17-year-olds from Germany die

Created: 12/30/2022 5:06 am

A rescue helicopter from the ÖAMTC (Austrian Automobile, Motorcycle and Touring Club) during an operation (symbolic image).

© snapshot-photography/ KMKrause/IMAGO / snapshot

Two 17-year-old Germans apparently died while skiing in Tyrol on Wednesday morning.

They are said to have fallen down an abyss at high speed over the edge of the runway.

Waidring, Tirol - ski accident in Austria.

Shortly after 11 a.m. on Wednesday morning, two 17-year-old skiers from Germany died in an accident.

This emerges from a report by the Tyrol State Police Department on Wednesday afternoon.

Apparently, the young people left the piste on their skis at high speed and then fell about 50 to 60 meters into an abyss.

Ski accident in Tyrol: Two Germans die in Austria in the Steinplatte ski area

According to eyewitness reports, the two young people were traveling at very high speeds.

Apparently, the two skiers skied over the edge of a red slope in the Steinplatte ski area in Waidring in the Kitzbühel district.

They then fell about 50 to 60 meters deep.

The alpine and meadow terrain next to the slope was steep, partly rocky and hardly covered with snow, according to the police report.

Two rescue helicopters were deployed, but the young people died at the scene of the accident, according to the police.

A police spokesman again warned of the possible consequences of skiing too fast.

"There is just very little snow next to the slope." According to the dpa and the Austrian broadcaster ORF, the 17-year-olds came from two families who were friends from the Berchtesgaden area and the Upper Palatinate, who went on vacation together.

It was not until Monday afternoon that a 12-year-old had an accident while skiing in Tyrol in front of her parents.

No victims in the avalanche in Lech

The avalanche in the Lech/Zürs am Arlberg ski area went off lightly.

In the avalanche accident, a skier from Germany was partially buried and seriously injured by the avalanche.

The other winter athletes from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bosnia, Croatia and the USA only suffered minor injuries or escaped with a fright.