Austria: Father and son killed in avalanche in Tyrol

Police in Tyrol, Austria said a father and son were killed by a sudden avalanche on Thursday around lunchtime. 

A group of four — a father, his two sons and a friend of the family — had set out from Schwendberg near Hippach, bound for the Rosskopf mountain peak on backcountry skis. 

Police said in a statement that just before noon the group were trying to descend a steep eastern peak in single file, part of practices aimed at reducing the risk of avalanches.

During their descent, "a huge slab of snow broke loose and swept the 51-year-old father and his 22-year-old son about 300 meters away, burying them both completely," police said. 

A major rescue effort ensued, involving two rescue helicopters, one police chopper, dog handlers, 33 mountain rescuers and two Alpine police officers.

Around an hour after the avalanche, the 22-year-old was located beneath the snow, but could not be reanimated. The father was uncovered around 20 minutes later and was also beyond the point of reanimation, police said.

Level three avalanche warning in parts of Tyrol

Heavy rains before Christmas prompted Austrian authorities to raise the avalanche warning level to 3, on a 5-step scale.

Although this level classifies the danger only as "considerable," not as "high" or "very high" at 4 or 5, around half of fatal avalanche accidents take place in these conditions, according to the European Avalanche Warning Service.

Level 3 warnings can often be in effect for as much as a third of the season.

msh/jsi (dpa, open sources)