Another search for missing vacationers
timeline
In the Gasteinertal (Pongau), water rescuers start a large-scale search for a missing vacationer again on Friday evening. The Czech has been gone since last week.
According to the police, the Czech checked into a guesthouse in Bad Hofgastein on July 29. He had come alone by train. The hostess saw the 65-year-old for the last time in the morning of July 30. The next day he was gone – the woman issued a missing persons report. A mobile phone bearing revealed that the last location was near the Gasteiner Ache.
First search without success
Police, mountain and water rescue started a large-scale search operation on Wednesday: the Ache and its banks were searched with a rafting boat. Police helicopters circled, the dog unit was also in action. The Czech vacationer could not be found – major search operation for missing vacationer (salzburg.ORF.at; 8/3/22)
Daughter asked for further search for missing father
The daughter of the 65-year-old started calls on social media at the same time. It is also she who asked the water rescue service to look for her father again on Friday, confirmed the local manager of the Bad Hofgastein water rescue service, Hannes Fankhauser. The search area includes the Gasteiner Ache and the Salzach up to the Wallnau barrage in Schwarzach (Pongau).
Drones are also used
“From 6 p.m. around 40 water rescuers are on their way along the Gasteiner Ache to the confluence with the Salzach.” They search with boats and drones – “with all the means at our disposal”, says Fankhauser. In any case, the search will continue until dark. In the event that the man is not found, further cases are planned, said Fankhauser.