A “ten” winter sports enthusiast was buried in an avalanche in Austria in the Vorarlberg region (west) on Sunday, the police said. “One person was rescued,” a spokesman said, without further details on their fate. A second person was able to free himself and take him to the hospital. Six other people featured in the footage were eventually found safe.
“However, we have no news of two people and are continuing the search,” said Hermann Fercher, head of the tourism association responsible for communication on the status of the work.
An unheeded warning
Helicopters and several teams accompanied by dogs were mobilized for the search. The avalanche was triggered around 3 p.m. at around 2700 meters above sea level in the Lech Zürz ski area
No information was given on the identity of those affected. Rescuers had warned this weekend of a high avalanche danger in this area and in neighboring Tyrol and pointed out the fragility of the snow cover in mild weather. Snow slides have claimed an annual average of around twenty lives in Austria in recent years.