Avalanche kills three Dutch hikers and skiers in Austria
AN avalanche near the Austrian ski resort of Soelden has killed three people from the Netherlands who were on a skiing and hiking trip.
Police said a group of 17 people from the Netherlands, accompanied by four Austrian mountain guides, were climbing towards a mountain refuge, the Martin-busch-huette, at about 2,500m (8,200ft) above sea level when the avalanche, which was about 80m (262ft) wide, hit just before 11am yesterday.
The mountain rescue service said that three members of the Dutch group were killed.
A fourth was rescued from under the snow and flown to a hospital in the nearby town of Zams.
The Netherlands’ foreign ministry said the country’s embassy in Vienna “is currently investigating exactly what happened and is ready to provide consular assistance if needed”.
The avalanche warning level in Tyrol province, where Soelden is located, was “moderate”, the second level on a fivetier scale, but experts warned of the possibility of avalanches caused by loose snow.
Austrian reports describe a snow slide of 180m (600ft) in length and 80m in width close to the village of Vent, not far from the Italian border in the province of Tyrol.
Four of the Dutch group were buried by the avalanche, close to the Martinbusch Hut, at an altitude of 2,500m. Police said two of them had died before they could be rescued.
The local head of emergency services, Bernd Noggler said that helicopters, rescue teams, dog teams and the Alpine police had headed to the scene.
He warned that the danger of new avalanches was very high so rescue workers were proceeding with extreme caution.
Rising temperatures have increased the risk of avalanches in Tyrol. Earlier this week a 19-year-old German hiker died when he became caught up in an avalanche near Lake Achensee to the north-east of Innsbruck.