| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Today
Polls
RSS Feed General News08. 02. 10. - 16:00
Avalanche death total rises
The number of avalanche deaths in Austria so far this season has risen to fifteen following more avalanches over the weekend in the Austrian Alps.
A German man died of his injuries last night (Sun/Mon) at Innsbruck University Clinic after having been caught in an avalanche near Tyrol’s Pitztal Glacier earlier in the day.
Police said the man from Baden-Württemberg and a German friend were swamped by a 30-metre-wide mass of snow that broke away and carried them 300 metres downhill.
The friend managed to free himself and call rescuers, who took the other German to the Innsbruck clinic.
The German was not the only avalanche victim over the weekend. A 39-year-old Upper Austrian man’s body was found yesterday after he had gone missing while skiing near Große Bärneck mountain in Styria’s Liezen district.
In another incident, a 28-year-old man died yesterday while skiing near Nassfeld in Carinthia’s Hermagor district when he was caught in an avalanche and smashed against a tree.
Many other winter sportsmen were caught in avalanches over the weekend but survived their experiences with varying degrees of injury.
The weekend deaths came on the heels of those of five people caught in avalanches last Thursday.
Experts warned today that there would be no early decline in the level of avalanche danger in many Austrian provinces.
They said the danger remained at the three level in Tyrol except on secured pistes and warned the slightest thing, including the weight of an individual skier, could cause an avalanche and many would occur spontaneously. They recommended that inexperienced skiers remain on secured pistes.
Experts in Lower Austria said the danger of avalanches remained at the three level in many areas, including that extending from the Ybbs Valley Alps to the Rax-Schneeberg group of mountains.
The risk of death is high when people are caught in avalanches. Hanno Bilek from the Committee for Alpine Safety said last Friday: "Six of every 10 people who are completely buried in avalanches die."
He added that two-thirds of the 26 avalanche fatalities in Austria annually were people engaged in ski touring, with the remainder those of skiers who strayed off-piste into dangerous unsecured areas and who were not as experienced as those on ski tours.
Bilek noted that people dug out within 15 minutes of being buried had an 82-per-cent chance of survival. Rescuers who made it to the site of an avalanche 20 to 30 minutes after its occurrence often arrived too late, so it was very important for other skiers to dig avalanche victims out, he added.
Avalanches, he said, were the number one cause of death among people doing winter sports.
There were 32 avalanche deaths during the 2008/2009 winter season in Austria.
Austrian Times
Related articles: winter sport accidents
-
Avalanches claim 37 in Austria
» General News 2010-05-05
A higher-than-average number of people were killed by avalanches in the Austrian Alps this winter.
-
ÖAMTC chopper fleet makes 200,000th rescue outing
» General News 2010-04-30
A chopper from ÖAMTC’s Kitzbühel base carried out the motorist club fleet’s overall 200,000th rescue outing yesterday (Thurs).
-
Hiker in clinic after 50-metre Salzburg fall
» General News 2010-04-23
A team of paramedics managed to rescue a hiker after he fell in a pathless area in Werfenweng, Salzburg, yesterday afternoon (Thurs).
Tag cloud:
Austria Alps experiences secured rescuers Bilek mountain pistes skier friend skiing season danger German Tyrol buried death avalanche victim Clinic
AUA rules out Whitsun travel chaos
The current conflict with the works committee does not negatively affect Austrian Airlines’ (AUA) booking figures, according to a spokesman.
Weak start for RWR Card
People’s Party (ÖVP) Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner has admitted difficulties in introducing the Red White Red Card (RWR Card, Rot-Weiß-Rot Card).
Pröll outpaces friends and foes in capability check
Austria’s longest-serving governor has been identified as the most capable one in the opinion of citizens.
Foul-mouthed MPs might face fines
Fritz Neugebauer has started another attempt to introduce a system of fees for abusive parliament delegates (MPs).
Car sharers should get cheap U-Bahn tickets say greens
People who support the environment by signing up for car sharing initiatives to cut down inner city congestion should get subsidised public transport.
Film festivals in Vienna
There are two film festivals back to back in Vienna this May and June. The "Let's CEE Film Festival" shows films from Central and Eastern Europe, while the "Vienna Independent Shorts" focuses on short films.
Salzburg builds new prison
Salzburg is to get a new prison.
Postwoman killed by express train
An 32-year-old postwoman was killed instantly when she apparently failed to see a stop sign on a train track - and was hit by a 120 kph express train at the Grimmenstein sortage depot in the Lower Austrian region of Neunkirchen.
Dirty water caused by excrement
Health experts are struggling to find the source of excrement that has contaminated water supplies at the town of Köstendorf in Salzburg province.
Man Utd chase Austrian ace
Manchester United have signalised interest in David Alaba.
The most popular stories –
last 7 days
|
Dune And Busted |
|
Swastika Shaped Austrian School Rebuilt |
|
Nazi still honoured in Austria |
|
20th Vienna Life Ball a fiery success! |
|
Thieves caught trying to nick F**king Sign |
