Eight mountain climbers die in Alps
Weekend sees three unrelated accidents
BERLIN — Eight mountain climbers died in three different accidents this weekend in the Austrian and Italian Alps.
The Austrian Red Cross said five mountain climbers died Sunday in the Austrian Alps in Wildgerlostal on Mount Gabler, east of Innsbruck, and a sixth climber was severely injured, the Austrian news agency APA reported.
The group of six men from Altoetting in the southern German state of Bavaria was roped together when they fell in a very remote area of the mountain at an altitude of about 6,550 feet. The lone survivor was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Salzburg and is in stable condition, public broadcaster ORF reported.
Apparently one member of the group slipped and fell on a glacier, bringing the others down with him, the head of the rescue teams, Martin Reichholf, said. The group fell down 200 yards on a steep slope covered with ice and debris.
German news agency dpa reported the ages of the climbers who died as 34, 56, 65, 69 and 70. It said the survivor is 75 years old. None of the climbers was named in keeping with German privacy law.
Three Italian mountain climbers also died this weekend, two of them on Sunday after falling into a crevasse in the Italian Alps. The Italian news agency ANSA said one of the crevasse victims was rescued in grave condition, but later died.
The accident involved a group of nine mountaineers roped together while climbing on a glacier in Adamello Brenta Park near Trento in northern Italy. All of the climbers, including two 13-year olds, were injured, ANSA reported.
The group was believed to be made up of two families from northern Italy. What caused the two to fall wasn’t immediately known, ANSA said.
Another Italian climber died Saturday after being hit by boulders in the Valtellina Alpine area, further west near the border with Switzerland.