Several people died in avalanches in the Alps over the weekend. In the Austrian states of Tyrol and Vorarlberg alone, seven winter sports enthusiasts and one snowplough driver have died since Friday, and a ski tourer from Bavaria had a fatal accident in South Tyrol. Authorities warned of further avalanches – also in the Bavarian Alps.
In St. Anton, Austria, two ski tourers were found dead in the snow. The 29-year-old ski guide and his guest, a 33-year-old Austrian, were hit by a slab of snow in the open ski area on Saturday morning. The search had to be interrupted because of the high avalanche danger. In the Austrian Kaunertal, a 62-year-old ski tourer died under an avalanche.
Dozens of avalanches were counted in Tyrol
In East Tyrol, the driver of a snow plow was found dead under snow masses on Sunday. According to the police, the vehicle was caught in an avalanche and carried away. A 32-year-old Chinese skier died in an avalanche in the Ötztal. Another skier lost his life there on Sunday.
A 17-year-old New Zealander was buried by masses of snow in the Zillertal, and a 55-year-old German who had been missing since Friday evening was found dead under an avalanche in the Kleinwalsertal on Saturday. Despite the warnings, the four winter sports enthusiasts had left the secured ski area on the slopes. In the past few days, significantly more than one meter of fresh snow had fallen regionally in the Alps. There is the second highest avalanche warning level. Dozens of avalanches were counted in Tyrol alone.
Winter sports enthusiasts triggered numerous avalanches in Bavaria
A 31-year-old ski tourer from Bavaria died in an avalanche in South Tyrol on Saturday. She was found at a depth of 2.5 meters and could not be revived. According to the South Tyrolean mountain rescue service, a companion was able to be freed unharmed under the masses of snow and, according to the mountain rescue service, came to the emergency pastoral care. The masses of snow had fallen at a height of about 2200 meters. A group of German ski tourers who had noticed the incident rushed to help. The accident site was around 80 kilometers east of Bolzano near the border with the Veneto region.
According to the avalanche warning service, there have been more avalanches in Bavaria in the past few days, especially in the Allgäu and from a height of 1400 meters. They were mainly triggered by winter sports enthusiasts. The danger was also high at the weekend. According to the avalanche warning service, nobody was seriously injured there, unlike in Austria and Italy.