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Two men triggered an avalanche during a mountain hike in Spain. One of the two was dragged 200 meters. The rescue was difficult.
Burgos – On Saturday (March 9th) there was an avalanche accident on the north face of San Lorenzo in the Iberian Mountains near Burgos in Spain. A 48-year-old and a 42-year-old were climbing with crampons in an area where a layer of snow had frozen due to the icy wind. This tore as the two men crossed it, triggering an avalanche. The 48-year-old climber was swept 200 meters by the masses of snow and suffered serious injuries.
Avalanche drags mountaineer: rescue is difficult
The local news site reports about it larioja.com. At 10:45 a.m. one of the two climbers made the emergency call himself. A special unit of the Guardia Civil, as well as a rescue and medical team from the nearby Valdezcaray ski resort and a helicopter were then alerted. However, the whereabouts of the two accident victims were difficult to access, made worse by a snowstorm and freezing temperatures.
“The conditions were very bad,” explained the ski area manager, Carlos Pérez, la rioja. He also draws attention to the danger of crossing a mountain “a day after a snowfall, with a snowstorm, poor visibility and so much cold.” Pérez also recalls the danger posed by off-piste skiing, which he explains is an increasingly common practice.
Man seriously injured after avalanche accident in Spain – complex rescue
At the beginning of the rescue, the exact location of the two men was not known. However, the less injured man managed to transmit the GPS signal, after which the climbers could be found.
The 48-year-old suffered serious injuries. In addition to hypothermia, he suffered several broken bones, which is why he was no longer able to descend under his own power and was taken to the valley station by rescue workers. An ambulance was waiting for the man there and took him to a nearby soccer field, where he was transported by helicopter. The second mountaineer only suffered minor injuries and was treated at the ski area's first aid station.
Avalanches are a real danger, especially away from the pistes. There are always accidents with fatalities caused by the snow masses. A similar accident occurred in the Dolomites. A man was swept away 300 meters by an avalanche. In Tyrol, avalanches swept away a man and his car.
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