Rescue crews search for last skiers still buried in Austria avalanche
Mountain rescue crews in Austria have managed to rescue all but two skiers after an avalanche on Sunday, local media reports.
About 200 rescue workers were initially searching for a group of ten people feared trapped under the snow near the town of Zuers, but most have now been rescued according to Austrian media outlets
The avalanche occurred at around 15:00 CET on the 2,700-metre high Trittkopf mountain between Zuers and Lech am Arlberg, and the cascading snow reached as far as nearby ski trails.
The avalanche followed days of snow in the high alpine region and unseasonably warm weather on Christmas Day, the Austria Press Agency reported, citing local police. The local mountain rescue service had rated the avalanche danger as “high.”
Searchlights were set up on the snow mass to continue the search after darkness fell, and dogs were being used to try to find the missing.
The search would continue “all night if we have to,” Lech-Zuers tourism director Hermann Fercher said during an interview on ORF Austrian public television.
In recent years, avalanches in Austria have caused an annual average of twenty deaths.
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