Five people were found lifeless this Sunday in the Austrian Alps, bringing the total number of fatalities to eight after the snowslides that occurred this weekend in that region of western Austria.
Three of the dead, aged 29, 33 and 62, had been hit by snowslides on Saturday at the St. Anton and Kaunertal ski resorts, respectively, although the bodies were only found today, Agence France Presse reported.
In another avalanche in the Ötztal valley, also in Tyrol, another skier died today, with another fatality, an Austrian employee “who was busy clearing the snow on Saturday morning.”
The 59-year-old employee’s accident occurred while driving an agricultural tractor, after being swept away in the Debantal valley, not far from the city of Lienz, but the body was only found today, Tyrolean state authorities added.
A 62-year-old man who had been wanted since Saturday for failing to return from a ski trip in the town of Kaunerberg was also found buried by rescuers and could not be revived.
The latest death was confirmed today to AFP by police sources and occurred in Längenfeld, in the Otztal valley.
The authorities refused to provide information on the nationality of the last four victims.
The five deaths in Tyrol bring the death toll in western Austria this weekend to eight.
A 17-year-old New Zealander, a 55-year-old German man and a 32-year-old Chinese man were found dead on Saturday.
In Tyrol and the neighboring area of Vorarlberg, the warning services continue today to consider the situation dangerous due to the occurrence of wind and snowfall.
In these two regions, experts from the alert service urged winter sports enthusiasts to be cautious.
However, the alert level of four on a scale of five did not stop many tourists from venturing out, authorities said.
Thirty avalanches were reported in Tirol on Saturday, involving eleven people. The situation led to numerous rescue operations considered dangerous due to adverse weather conditions.
The February school holidays have begun in Vienna and the rooms have filled up after a bad start to the season, marked by the absence of snow at the medium and low altitudes.
In recent years, in Austria, one of the main winter sports destinations, snow slides have caused an annual average of 20 deaths.
Source: TSF
