As of: February 29, 2024, 6:09 p.m
By: Johannes Welte
Comments
Press
Split
A Munich man (21) was killed in an avalanche in South Tyrol on Wednesday and two companions were seriously injured.
The fourth of the group sat in a hut - and went for help when his friends stayed away.
Ratschings - It was supposed to be a ski tour in fresh deep snow when four friends from Germany went to the South Tyrolean Alps in northern Italy on Wednesday.
Wonderful deep snow, but that also means a high risk of avalanches.
It is unclear whether that was the reason why one of the four stayed behind on the Innere Wumblsalm.
According to altoadige.it
, he decided
at the last moment to wait for his friends in the hut, which possibly saved his and two of his friends' lives.
The trio set off on a ski tour to the Glaitner Hochjoch (2389 meters).
When the trio climbed a steep snow slope at an altitude of around 2,100 meters, a slab of snow broke away under their weight.
The avalanche, which was around 150 meters long and around 80 meters wide, swept the tourers away and buried them.
Aurel S. (21) from Munich was buried four meters deep under the masses of snow, his 23-year-old companions were buried two and a half meters deep.
One of the three is said to have been lying on the surface.
One of the three is still fighting for survival
All three were excavated or recovered by mountain rescue.
Aurel S. was resuscitated on the avalanche cone.
But he could no longer be saved and he died.
The other two were flown by helicopter to the clinic in Bolzano.
The male companion - all of whom are said to come from different German cities - is now out of danger.
Mountain rescuers dig up the ski tourers who were buried up to four meters deep.
© Mountain Rescue Ridnaun Ratschings/Facebook
The condition of the young woman, who was also buried, is still considered critical.
Both had suffered from life-threatening hypothermia and one had suffered cardiac arrest.
According to the
Dolomiten
newspaper, both patients had to be warmed up extensively, the man using conventional procedures and the woman using a mobile heart-lung machine.
Friend went for help when he didn't hear from the ski tourers
The fact that the buried victims were rescued at all is thanks to their comrade, who reported his friends missing when they did not return or contact him.
He apparently heard the avalanche and raised the alarm. The Ridnaun/Ratschings mountain rescue service started a search flight.
The helpers discovered the slab avalanche around 4 p.m.
My news
Sensational find in Austria: Farmer comes across a secret passage under his farm - authorities reactread
Six correct numbers and still no lottery jackpot: pair is left empty-handed due to an error
Avalanche alarm: Italy evacuates valley – read curfew for residents
Lawyer reveals Josef Fritzlllesen's last wish
Danger of rock falls at a tourist hotspot in the Alps: Unusual measure for mountain lake hut readers
Eruption overdue: Supervolcano in Italy swells, steams heavily and spits out more gas
“We were sure that the people we were looking for were buried,” says mountain rescuer Philipp Braunhofer to the
RAI
broadcaster .
“We have received the avalanche transceiver signal”.
This is an avalanche beacon.
Those buried are said to have lain in the snow for over an hour.
Around 5:45 p.m., two of the buried victims were freed from the masses of snow by mountain rescuers, as was the young woman shortly after 6 p.m.
Around twenty rescuers were deployed in the area of the avalanche, which was estimated to be medium-sized.
After the heavy snowfall, there is currently a generally high risk of avalanches in the Italian Alps.
In addition, many rock falls cause road closures.
Further south, torrential rain is causing severe flooding.