Avalanche in Tyrol: Several Winter Sports Enthusiasts Partially Buried

During an avalanche in the open ski area at the Stubai Glacier in Tyrol (Innsbruck-Land district) on Thursday morning, eight winter sports enthusiasts - five Germans, two Bulgarians, and one Austrian woman - were partially buried. Four of them were slightly injured, according to the Stubai Glacier Railways. Two of the injured were flown to Hall Hospital. The affected individuals were freed from the snow masses as part of a large-scale search operation.

Partially Self-Rescued

The snow slab came down at 9:25 a.m. in the open ski area near the Daunscharte. The snow masses partially reached the lower section of a slope, which was then closed. The off-piste skiers were eventually rescued in the vicinity and in the open ski area. Six of them were able to free themselves from the snow masses, while the other two were rescued by comrades, a police spokeswoman told APA in the late afternoon.

The avalanche was likely triggered in the open terrain by one of the winter sports enthusiasts, according to the Stubai Glacier Railways. The snow slab was of considerable size - the fracture was up to two meters high, and the avalanche cone to be searched was correspondingly huge. Avalanche airbags were observed to have been deployed by some of the affected winter sports enthusiasts during the avalanche.

Search Operation After Avalanche in Tyrol Concluded

After the rescues, the search operation could be concluded early Thursday afternoon. However, the avalanche cone will still be finally searched with a Recco probe by helicopter, according to the glacier railways.

The scale of the search operation at the Stubai Glacier was immense. More than 250 emergency personnel were on site - in addition to the mountain rescue teams from Neustift, Vorderes Stubaital, and Sölden with five avalanche dogs, the alpine police, as well as around 60 Czech and Polish mountain rescuers and 90 soldiers of the German Bundeswehr who were present due to training courses, were involved. Also, 100 civilian helpers, two emergency medical helicopters with a leading emergency doctor, the Libelle Tyrol, and employees of the Stubai Glacier Railways were involved.

The avalanche occurred during a weather-technically quite critical time. In recent days, not only has a lot of snow fallen in the Tyrolean high mountains - currently, there are 70 centimeters of fresh snow at the Stubai Glacier - but it has also been repeatedly stormy. Wind is considered a builder of avalanches in such situations, as wind-drifted snow can accumulate under these conditions. "The danger spots are often not recognizable," says Patrick Nairz, head of the Tyrolean Avalanche Warning Service, to the online edition of "Kurier." The recent snow has not been blown away by the wind and thus covers the wind-drifted snow packages. The avalanche at the Stubai Glacier was "relatively large," Nairz also noted.

(APA/Red.)

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