99 students and eight teachers from Germany were rescued from the mountains by helicopter in Kleinwalsertal (Vorarlberg) on Tuesday. “The teachers had chosen a hiking route on the internet that did not match the clothing and footwear of the youth group, nor with their mountain experience,” the Vorarlberg police said Wednesday evening.
According to this information, the group of 12- to 14-year-olds from Ludwigshafen and their teachers left around 3 pm from Schöntal in Hirschegg/Kleinwalsertal to the Walmendingerhorn in Mittelberg. The tour, which was not signposted, went over the narrow Heuberggrat, which according to the police “requires altitude difference, sturdiness and experience in alpine terrain”.
panic broke out
The trail was also wet and slippery from the previous rainfall. When a subgroup decided to return due to the difficult conditions, two students slipped and suffered minor injuries. As a result, individual children panicked, so a teacher made an emergency call.
The entire group was rescued by dew rescue helicopters and then transported to the property by mountain rescue and fire service vehicles. “Several students were exhausted, hypothermic, soaked and completely decomposed,” the police described the situation. The case will be forwarded to the public prosecutor’s office in Feldkirch for criminal assessment upon completion of the investigation.
Trust internet user reviews
The teachers had apparently decided to take the ridge route based on a description by a user on the mountaineering website Hikr.org. This describes the tour of the Heuberggrat as a “great after-work tour”, as the police also quoted in their broadcast. Despite the signposted warning to proceed only with climbing equipment, the trail is completely harmless (“nothing difficult here”), said user “Andy84”. Other hikers, on the other hand, had considerably more difficulty on the route: “It was the most demanding climb we’ve done yet,” wrote “ju_wi” after an inspection in wet conditions.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
