A 19-year-old woman from the district of Fürstenfeldbruck slipped down a steep slope in the dark on Sunday evening from a hiking trail between the monastery village of Erling and Andechs Monastery. The fire brigade and rescue service were able to rescue the seriously injured young woman from the difficult terrain.
Andechs – Although the paths between Andechs and Herrsching through the Kiental are well developed, accidents occur again and again. On Sunday evening around 22 p.m., a 19-year-old woman from the Fürstenfeldbruck district slipped off the unpaved and slippery path on a trail from Erling up to the monastery during a walk. Maximilian Fendt, who as deputy commander of the Erling-Andechs volunteer fire brigade was in charge of the operation, took another look at the site yesterday on the geoportal – the woman could have fallen 20 meters. Fortunately, she got stuck under the path after only three or four meters, but was still seriously injured and unconscious.
The problem this time, as many times before, was to find the scene of the accident. According to the police headquarters of Upper Bavaria North in Ingolstadt, the woman was accompanied by a 23-year-old young man, also from Fürstenfeldbruck. Both are unfamiliar with the area, so the young man's location information when he made the emergency call was not very accurate. "We were looking for 15 minutes," says Fendt. To then get there on foot and equipped with portable lamps to get there to the scene of the accident. Firefighters and rescue services lowered themselves to the injured young woman via safety lines and provided her with first aid on the spot. She then had to be pulled halfway up the slope and half carried with a stretcher, and then taken on foot by the rescuers on the stretcher to the monastery parking lot about 500 meters away, where the rescue helicopter was already waiting.
A total of almost 50 active members of the fire brigades from Erling-Andechs and Herrsching as well as the rescue service with an emergency doctor were on duty. The Herrschingers had approached via the Kientalweg from Herrsching. Both fire departments are prepared for operations like this. The Erlingers were in action with three vehicles, the Herrsching with four. Both local fire brigades are regularly called to emergencies in the Kiental, not always under these conditions. They are often so-called carrying aids for the emergency services to treat injured people. "During Corona, there were fewer deployments," says Fendt. The last crash was two years ago, when a 27-year-old hiker fell 20 to 30 meters down the slope into the Kienbach. An accident in June 2019 was spectacular, when a 32-year-old man fell 60 meters on the Andechser Höhenweg on his way back from his bachelor party in Andechs and was seriously injured. But not only people, dogs have also slid down the steep slopes and needed help.
The rescuers from Erling and Herrsching are prepared for such difficult rescues. Two to three times a year, the fire drills focus on fall protection and rescue from heights and depths, says Fendt. Experienced mountaineers are also always useful. He is happy: "We have them in our team."
How dangerous the Kiental can be is indicated by forestry office signs with the inscription "So far 11 dead" on the most critical stretches of the road to warn caution. How current the number is is not certain. The last fatal crash occurred in 2005, one day before the start of the Oktoberfest, when a young New Zealander crashed in the Bräustüberl in Andechs after attending the "Kiwi Days" that used to be customary. The young woman who crashed on Sunday will hopefully recover soon. The rescue operation lasted about an hour and a half.
