Missing couple found dead in avalanche – search operation brings sad certainty – news from Austria
The black series in the Austrian mountains does not stop. Rescue workers found the bodies of a missing couple at night.
Austria is hit by a series of avalanche gaps. After the death of five winter sports enthusiasts in Spiss in the Landeck district and the avalanche drama in Vorarlberg, in which a 43-year-old freerider died although he still deployed the airbag, reports the police now two more deaths in the mountains.
In Auffach in the Unterland (federal state Tyrol) a married couple was rescued dead from an avalanche on the night of Saturday (January 5). The two ski tourers were searched after they failed to return home.
According to the police, the two Tyroleans, aged 60 and 61, went on a ski tour from the Schönangeralm in Auffach/Wildschönau to the 1,868 meter high Breiteggspitze on Friday afternoon. At around 3:30 p.m., the 60-year-old man informed an acquaintance that she had reached the summit.
(Also read: Danger of avalanches in the Allgäu “above 1500 meters significantly”)
But after this message, the couple was no longer available for a long time. When it had not returned home, relatives alerted the police shortly after 9:30 p.m. The alpine police and mountain rescue service then immediately started a search operation. The emergency services were supported by search dogs, a police helicopter and the fire brigade along with a drone, according to a press release: “The helicopter was able to detect a slab avalanche in the area south of the summit of the Breitegg peak and the emergency services were then ordered there.”
Avalanche drama in Tyrol: any help comes too late for the couple
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The area was probed until the couple was located and dug up around 12:40 a.m. using an avalanche beacon. Any help came too late for the man and his wife.
Also read:
Avalanche warning service in the Allgäu: This is how the avalanche danger is determined
Avalanches keep rescue workers in Tyrol on their toes – snowboarders in distress