A large-scale operation is underway in the Pitztal in Tyrol after an avalanche. An emergency call was received by the mountain rescue team on Saturday. There are ski tracks in the snow. The search calls for emergency services.
Update from December 24th, 5:14 p.m.: Rescue workers have been searching for a buried victim since 9 a.m. As the Tyrolean daily newspaper reported that the missing person is a 46-year-old Austrian. The ski tourer set off towards Rappenkopf at around 8.30 a.m. on Saturday and never returned. The search for the man has so far been unsuccessful, it is said, but will continue in the coming days. According to police, 70 people were involved in the search operation on Sunday.
400-meter avalanche in Austria – search for buried people in the Pitztal
St. Leonhard – An avalanche occurred on Saturday afternoon (December 23rd) in the Pitztal in Tyrol (Austria). A tourer alerted the mountain rescue team. At around 12:10 p.m. he discovered ski tracks near the avalanche cone, Austrian police confirmed on Sunday (December 24). A large-scale search operation began.
Ski tracks in the snow after an avalanche – tourers alert the mountain rescuers
The operation at the scene of the accident had to be canceled on Saturday around 6:45 p.m. due to increasing avalanche danger. In a 400 meter long and 300 meter wide avalanche cone, emergency services from the St. Leonhard im Pitztal and Jerzens mountain rescue services, avalanche dogs from the Tyrol mountain rescue service, two emergency medical helicopters and the police helicopter, as well as the Alpine police, searched for the buried victim.
According to the police, the search operation for possible buried victims will continue on December 24th.
Avalanche drama in Tyrol (Austria) – Helicopters and search dogs in action after tracks in the snow
On Saturday there was a high risk of avalanches (warning level 4) following snowfall and strong winds. Accumulations of wind slabs above the tree line are prone to triggering, he warned Avalanche warning service. “The conditions for tours and freeriding are sometimes tricky,” it says on the website on Sunday (December 24th), even though the danger level has now been reset to 3.
The start of the winter season in Tyrol began with sad news – the first avalanche death. One avalanche is currently chasing another in the Alps. The case of two ski tourers who were hit by an avalanche in South Tyrol is dramatic. (ml)
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