After an avalanche in the Austrian town of Lech four days ago, emergency services have found the body of the fourth missing German skier. During a large-scale search operation with an avalanche probe, the 28-year-old was discovered dead at a depth of two and a half meters, said the Landespolizeidirektion Vorarlberg.
The bodies of the other three men had already been recovered shortly after the disaster on Saturday. The four friendly skiers from southern Germany had traveled to Lech for a ski tour and on Saturday according to the information on a locked ski route on the way.
Three men, ages 32, 36 and 57, were found dead late Saturday night. The men from the Biberach area in Baden-Wuerttemberg wore an avalanche airbag, which had also risen. Yet they were buried so deep under the snow that they suffocated.
The search for the fourth German had to be interrupted in the meantime because of heavy snowfall and avalanche danger. The Alpine region has recently been hit by exceptionally heavy snowfall.
Meanwhile, the avalanche danger in the Alps goes back. According to the avalanche warning center, many previously closed roads in Austria have been reopened for traffic. So the important Fernpass route between Germany and Austria should be open again from all directions on this afternoon.
For Thursday, the experts widely expected avalanche warning level three (significant risk) on the five-point scale. But winter sports fans should also take this very seriously, said Rudi Mair, head of the avalanche warning service Tyrol. "Because avalanche danger level three is where most avalanche accidents occur, so if you are not an experienced ski tourer or variant driver, you should definitely stay on the secured pistes!" Many skiers underestimated the danger.