As of: April 8, 2024, 10:10 a.m
By: Johannes Welte
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At least five mountaineers are injured, some seriously, in a mass fall at the summit of the Zuckerhütl in Tyrol's Stubaital. The person who caused the accident went undetected.
Neustift/Stubaital – The Zuckerhütl, at 3,507 meters high the highest peak in the Stubai Alps in Tyrol, attracted masses of tourers at the weekend. The tour is popular because you can take the glacier cable car up to the Schaufeljoch (3,158 meters) and climb the Austrian peak near the Italian border as a day tour.
The skis are left in a depot below the summit. The amount of fresh snow over the past few weeks and the wonderfully sunny weather attracted tourers to the Zuckerhütl at the weekend so much that it became crowded at the summit. According to the Tyrol State Police Directorate, around 50 meters below the summit, a previously unknown mountaineer suddenly slipped and fell in the snow-covered gully, which was sometimes up to 50 degrees steep.
Five mountaineers are swept away - head injuries and a broken leg
“Three alpinists from Austria as well as a 27-year-old alpinist and an alpinist of the same age from Italy were swept away and came to a standstill approximately 50 meters below the crash site,” according to the Tyrolean police. According to
tt.com
, the 27-year-old suffered
a head injury in the fall and her companion, the same age, broke his leg.
The Zuckerhütl was busy again at the weekend. (Archive) © imago stock&people
According to the report, 30 to 40 other ski tourers were waiting at the ski depot. After initial treatment, the two injured people were flown to the hospital in Meran in emergency medical helicopters from the Hall in Tirol district hospital. The scene of the accident is near the border with South Tyrol, the Italian alpinists come from there.
Around 40 tourers were waiting to storm the summit
The three tourers from Austria were only slightly injured and continued their mountain tour. Meanwhile, the person who caused the series of falls ran away without caring about the injured. The Tyrolean police are now looking for him. It is unclear whether he was injured himself.
The injured were flown to the clinics by helicopter. (Symbolic image) © IMAGO/xpytyczechx
All the snow is currently making the Alps treacherous: a 14-year-old recently died in an avalanche at Lake Misurina (Dolomites). A Munich Cessna pilot was killed in a plane crash in the Zillertal Alps in the Föhn storm. An injured woman was rescued in a 13-hour rescue operation in the Silvretta area (Vorarlberg).