As of: January 28, 2024, 4:20 p.m
By: Katrin Hager
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With the help of a helicopter, the police searched for two missing hikers on Saturday evening (symbolic image).
© Christoph Reichwein/dpa
A hike in the Kreuther Mountains on Saturday almost ended fatally for two people from Lower Bavaria: the couple got lost in the Wolfsschlucht/Schildenstein area.
A search operation ensued in a race against freezing temperatures.
Kreuth
- The spring-like daytime temperatures easily disguise the dangers: It is still deep winter in the mountains, and after sunset the temperatures have recently always fallen well below freezing point.
In such conditions, a couple from Lower Bavaria escaped on a hike in the Kreuth Mountains on Saturday, reports the Upper Bavaria South Police Headquarters.
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At around 6:30 p.m. one of the two hikers, a 61-year-old, made an emergency call.
The man stated that he had gotten lost during a mountain tour with his wife in the Wolfsschlucht and Schildenstein area in Kreuth, the police said.
Because of the darkness and the cold that had already set in, the couple could no longer find their way down into the valley.
The rescue control center alerted the Rottach-Egern mountain rescue service and the Alpine task force of the police headquarters.
Police helicopter spots couple in snow field
Communication with the couple was only partially possible because the cell phone network kept cutting out, the police report.
Due to the size of the search area, a police helicopter with special tracking and night vision technology was requested.
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At around 9.30 p.m. the crew finally discovered the couple on a snowfield in the lower area of the Schildenstein.
A requested rescue helicopter from Austria was able to rescue the two of them from the mountains using a special winch.
The couple was brought into the valley around midnight, slightly hypothermic but otherwise uninjured and visibly relieved.