After the Krampus run, the young Halleiner drowns in the icy Alm Canal

Numerous Salzburg Krampus passes today celebrate the return of the wreaths and descents, including the Grödig “Rackl Pass”. Hundreds of visitors gathered in Grödig (Flachgau) on Friday evening after a two-year break to experience Sinterklaas and the famous Krampus up close. So did a 26-year-old from Hallein (Tennengau), himself a member of the Niederalmer Krampuses.

Only on the way to the taxi
The young man and his friends first went to the Racklwirt parking lot for the Passrun and then to the party. Around 02:00 it was curfew. The boys headed home. The Halleiner went alone to the taxi, on his way to the Grödig district of Eichet. Apparently he wanted to take a shortcut under the highway bridge and at the Alm. This was probably the man’s downfall.

Current and walls of the canal are insurmountable
According to initial information, the 26-year-old stumbled in the dark of night and fell into the bitterly cold channel. Visitors to the Krampus races heard the man. One of the witnesses jumped after him, but could not lift the heavily built man from the bottom of the canal. The current and the walls of the bitterly cold Alm seemed insurmountable.

Together with other passers-by, it was only a few hundred meters away. However, the Halleiner was no longer conscious. Those who hurried alerted the emergency services. Grödig aid workers, who had just been to the Krampus hype, tried to resuscitate. Finally the ambulance came. But the Halleiner could not be brought back to life.