Four people were injured in an avalanche in Austria that sparked a major search for a dozen winter sports enthusiasts on Sunday, police said on Monday.
The incident happened around 3 p.m. at around 2700 meters above sea level in the Lech Zürz ski area in the Vorarlberg region (west).
Due to the video of a skier, the police initially reported “about ten people buried under the snow” and feared a high toll.
200 people mobilized
In this group “in the area of the avalanche” “a man could be saved”. “Heavily injured,” according to a press release published overnight, he was taken to the hospital in Innsbruck.
“It was only in the evening that the other people who could be seen on the video got in touch,” the police said. They were able to return to the station under their own power. Three were injured.
No information was given about her identity.
Up to 200 people, supported by helicopters, were mobilized for several hours to take part in the search operations.
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.