Tragedy in the Zillertal: father and son of avalanche spilled!

Tragedy in the Zillertal: father and son of avalanche spilled!

Hippach, Österreich - in the Tyrolean Zillertal, a fateful tragedy happened on Stefanitag when an avalanche accident tore apart a family and her friends. On the morning of December 26, 2024, a 51-year-old father and his two sons, 22 and 19 years old, had broken on a ski tour to the horse head with a 19-year-old friend. Around 11:55 a.m., when the group drove from the summit height into an east slope, which was about 37 degrees steeply, a huge avalanche loosened. This tore the father and his eldest son around 300 meters and fully spilled them, while the 19-year-old son made it through an "shot" to escape the avalanche. Tragically, the two spilled were later recovered dead, as meinbezirk.at reported.

The alarm of the emergency services was immediately carried out. Two rescue helicopters, a police helicopter and a large number of mountain rescuers - a total of 33 - as well as two alpine police officers and several dog handlers were mobilized. On the avalanche cone, the search for the buried people was extremely challenging, since no LVS signals could initially be found. But around 1 p.m. the 22-year-old was located at a depth of two meters. Despite immediate resuscitation attempts, any help came too late. Another 20 minutes later, the search for traces also found the father at a deep deep, and the resuscitation was also unsuccessful for him. Both deceased family members were recovered by the emergency services and transferred to Mayrhofen, while the surviving son is looked after by a crisis intervention team, as krone.at reported.

This misfortune shows the extreme risks of ski tours in areas at risk of avalanches and shows us the importance of preventive security measures. The tragedy of the situation is reinforced by the fact that the rescue workers are often under pressure in such weather conditions, since every minute counts to ensure the survival more frequently. According to the local experts, the chances of survival of buried sinks strongly if they are not found within the first 15 minutes.