An avalanche triggers a major operation in Tyrol. Four people were caught in the avalanche and three people died in the incident. They were members of a hockey club.
Update from April 13, 2024, 11:45 a.m.:
The survivor of the avalanche accident was released from the hospital in Zams on Friday morning, reports the Dutch newspaper
De Telegraaf.
It is a 32-year-old from the city of Apeldoorn in the province of Gelderland. The deceased tourers were 33, 35 and 60 years old. They were members of the Apeldoorn hockey club AMHC and played on the same team. “Our green-white heart turns black today,” writes the AMHC on Facebook. “We have deep sympathy for the families and wish family, team members, friends and everyone else who knew the men a lot of strength in this terrible loss.” A condolence book will be displayed in the clubhouse. All training sessions on Thursday and Friday have been cancelled, as have weekend games.
Update from April 12, 2024, 8:00 a.m.:
According to the mountain rescuers, the avalanche that hit the tourers cleared itself. This is reported by the news portal
tirol.orf.at
. Josef Fiegl, local branch manager of the Sölden mountain rescue service, did not see responsibility for the tragic accident as lying with the four experienced mountain guides who led the group.
“I would consider that a residual risk. These are extremely experienced mountain guides who are out and about every day. I also know these four personally. And if you ask me, I would have gone in there today without any kind of headache. “Unfortunately, things turned out differently,” says Fiegl. The case will be investigated accordingly. According to
tirol.orf.at
, the Alpine police are questioning all members of the group as well as the mountain guides to determine what happened to the accident and to discuss whether there was any wrongdoing or not.
Three people die in an avalanche in Sölden
Update from April 11, 2024, 4:33 p.m.:
Mountain rescue has now announced that a third person was killed by the avalanche in Tyrol. Another person is seriously injured in hospital after being rescued. The victims belonged to a group of skiers from the Netherlands. The uninjured members of the group were brought back to the valley.
Update from April 11, 2024, 3:32 p.m.:
Another person was rescued after the avalanche in South Tyrol. “We have just recovered another buried victim. I can't say anything about his condition, he has to be examined by the doctors first," said Josef Fiegl, local branch manager of the Sölden mountain rescue service, to
IPPEN.MEDIA
. “The situation was very confusing at midday when there was talk of 18 buried people. Thank God not so many people were affected.”
Update from April 11, 2024, 2:54 p.m.:
The police have now confirmed that two people died in the avalanche in Tyrol. The two people are winter sports enthusiasts from the Netherlands. The two people were part of a group of skiers that consisted of 17 participants. At the time of the avalanche, the group was on the way to the Martin Busch Hut.
Avalanche in Tyrol was 180 meters long and 80 meters wide: No other missing people are suspected
Four people in the group were caught in the avalanche, which authorities said was a total of 180 meters long and 80 meters wide. Two of them were rescued alive. According to the police, one of the two people was flown to a hospital; nothing is currently known about the condition of the other person. No other people are suspected to be among the masses of snow. It is currently assumed that the snow masses have dissolved on their own.
Avalanche disaster in Tyrol: Holiday hotspot near Sölden was fully booked - search for buried victims
Update from April 11, 2024, 1:44 p.m.:
“The avalanche fell at an altitude of around 2,200 meters. There is still a lot of snow up there. Up to three meters,” says Gregor Franke, spokesman for the Tyrol mountain rescue service at
IPPEN.MEDIA
: “Five helicopters were sent to the mountain. The problem was that we first had to evacuate the slopes because there was still a significant risk of avalanches. Only when the avalanches had been blown up by the helicopters were we able to deploy our teams for rescue. Five local offices are in use. The avalanche cone is now being searched for buried victims using probing rods and avalanche transceivers.” These are the avalanche beacons that ski tourers should have with them.
Visitors to the Martin-Busch-Hütte, in whose direction the avalanche went, also have to be careful. The hut is currently fully booked. According to Franke, it is a popular starting point for tours in the Similaun Mountains at this time of year. It is known that it can be dangerous. “At this time of year, visitors should be back in the day by midday because the danger of so-called wet snow avalanches is high.” However, that also means that the avalanche came down at a time that is actually considered safe. At two degrees Celsius, it is unusually warm for April, and weather records were also broken in Germany this year.
Avalanche in Tyrol rolls over a slope and triggers a major alarm - 18 people buried
First report from April 11, 2024, 1:15 p.m.:
Niedertal - Devastating avalanche in Öztal. A slab of snow hit the municipality of Vent and was said to have been released around 11 a.m. at a height of over 2,000 meters. Austrian media report that 18 people were buried. According to the
Krone newspaper,
there were two deaths.
Today.at
speaks of one fatality. Four people have now been rescued alive.
In the area of the avalanche there is a bicycle path that it is said to have overtaken. The rescue work is underway - and there is a threat of further danger.
Avalanche buries people in Tyrol: Several communities send rescue workers
The rescue teams from several communities are involved in the large-scale operation. Both the Obergurgl mountain rescue service, Sölden and Längenfeld have sent teams. Dog handlers are on duty to find buried people. In addition, mountain rescue helicopters undertake a visual flight over the accident site in order to better assess the situation. “The meeting point for the mountain rescuers is currently Vent,” says the Sölden mountain rescue service. Avalanche blasting could also be carried out.
The situation is extremely dangerous for the emergency services because there is a risk of further avalanches occurring in the area, explained Gregor Franke from the Tyrolean mountain rescue headquarters and Franz Josef Fiegl, head of the Sölden mountain rescue service, to the
Tiroler Tageszeitung
. The incident is apparently a so-called self-triggering.
The health status of the rescued people is not yet publicly known. In the past few weeks there have been several avalanches in Tyrol, some of which have resulted in large search operations. Recently, among others, a German died in an avalanche accident. There are also dangers beyond the slopes.