The avalanche in Lech/Zürs was apparently less serious than initially feared. Just after 8:30 p.m., only two people were reported missing. Eight other people were rescued. For the most part, they were not swept away by the avalanche.
Previously, hours had been spent searching for ten people who may have been buried. This suspicion was based on a video from a ski guest. This shows “how the skiers come into contact with the avalanche,” says Hermann Fercher of Lech/Zürs Tourismus. The video does not show what happened next.
Two injured
Sunday evening it was clear that most of the skiers had not been swept away by the avalanche. One person was injured by the avalanche, but was able to free himself and was treated at the hospital in Bludenz. Another person was injured and was flown to the clinic in Innsbruck. Six other people were not swept away and were not injured.
However, the fate of two other winter sports enthusiasts was still open on Sunday evening. According to Vorarlberg state security officer Christian Gantner (ÖVP) a search will be carried out for them at dawn on Monday, there are no reports of missing persons yet. According to information from “Krone”, this could be because they are foreign tourists. In any case, Gantner was confident that the last two missing persons are doing well.
What happened
As reported, the foothills of an avalanche had reached secured ski slope No. 134 (Balmen) on Sunday afternoon. Those responsible assumed that up to ten people had been buried and made every effort to find possible avalanche victims. More than 200 people, several avalanche dogs and eight helicopters, three of them from Tyrol, were deployed. In the dark the avalanche cone was illuminated and the search continued on the ground. However, the helicopters were still on standby for possible injuries.
The search for the last two missing people was temporarily suspended late Sunday evening. They may already be in their quarters. If their whereabouts are still unclear on Monday, the Army’s avalanche operations platoon could help. That night he moved to the Walgau barracks.
The avalanche broke out below the Trittkopf (2720 meters high) at the Trittkopfberg station and started in open terrain until it reached the ski slope. A major alarm was sounded shortly before 3 p.m. It is still unclear what caused the avalanche. Rain may have softened the terrain.
Source: Krone
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