Three people died in an avalanche in the Salzburger Land on Saturday. For two 19-year-olds and one 24-year-old Austrian, any help came too late.

The group of eleven people had undertaken a joint ski tour in the direction of Lackenspitze in the Tweng municipality (Tamsweg district). At around 1.30 p.m. the group was on the ascent on the summit slope of the Lackenspitze when an approx. 200-meter-wide slab of snow came loose in the ridge area.

The slab caught eight ski tourers

The slab of snow caught eight ski tourers in the group of eleven. Of the eight ski tourers, three people were completely buried. Two partially buried people were able to save themselves. Three people were captured but not buried.

Two of the completely buried tourers were located with the search device and then dug up by the mountain rescue team. One person could only be recovered dead. The other person was resuscitated and taken to the Klagenfurt hospital by rescue helicopter, where she died. The third fully buried ski tourer did not carry a search device. This was located by means of a sounding at 5.27 p.m. and could only be recovered dead.

Three young men dead

The fatally injured were male and aged 24, 19 and 19, all Austrian nationals, the police reported. The two partially buried people (male, Austrian nationals brought with them at the age of 22 and 18) were rescued injured and taken to the Tamsweg hospital. The three other tourers were uninjured.

Austrian motocrosser among the fatalities

According to the sports information service SID, one of the two 19-year-old fatalities is the Austrian motocross rider Rene Hofer. This was confirmed by the KTM team for which Hofer started on Sunday.

On behalf of the entire motocross world, KTM expressed the Hofer’s family “deep compassion” during this “incredibly difficult time”. “Rene (…) will be remembered by all of us. Not only because of his talents on the track, but because of his open-minded, funny and friendly disposition.” Hofer always had a smile on his face. – kse / SID