A series of devastating avalanches in Austria’s Alpine region has resulted in five fatalities, highlighting the extreme dangers of current mountain conditions. The tragedies occurred in the Pongau area near Salzburg, where heavy snowfall has created precarious avalanche conditions throughout the region.
On Saturday, mountain rescue services responded to multiple incidents beginning around 14:00 local time. The most severe avalanche engulfed a group of seven off-piste skiers, claiming four lives and leaving one with serious injuries. Approximately ninety minutes earlier, another avalanche had buried a female skier in open alpine terrain near the same location.
Gerhard Kremser, district head of the Pongau mountain rescue service, expressed profound sympathy for the victims’ families, stating: ‘This tragedy painfully demonstrates how serious the current avalanche situation is.’
The recent incidents form part of a disturbing pattern of avalanche-related deaths across the Alpine region. Earlier in the week, a 13-year-old Czech boy perished in an avalanche at the Bad Gastein resort on Tuesday. Last Sunday, a 58-year-old skier died in the Tyrolean resort of Weerberg in western Austria.
The dangerous conditions extend beyond Austria’s borders. In neighboring Switzerland, a German national was killed and four others injured during cross-country skiing on Friday. Last weekend, France reported six skiers killed in avalanches across various Alpine resorts.
While additional avalanches were recorded in the Pongau region around midday, no further injuries were reported. Mountain safety officials continue to warn skiers about the critically dangerous avalanche conditions persisting throughout the Alpine region.