An Austrian man was rescued after experiencing tremendous hardship, as he was buried in the ice for five hours due to an avalanche, emergency services said Thursday.
Stephan Schrock, deputy head of the Mountain Rescue Department in the Austrian province of Styria, says that the chance of survival for victims of the avalanche drops dramatically after 15 minutes, which makes the man’s survival an anomaly occurring once every 20 years in the Alps.
The police were informed yesterday, Wednesday, after the 26-year-old skater did not return from a trip on Plesnitzzencken Mountain in Styria.
In the evening hours, mountain rescuers were able to locate the skater at a depth of one meter below the surface of the ice because he was wearing an ice transmitter and receiver that sent periodic signals, Schrock told the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation.
The police said in a statement that the man was conscious but suffered from a sharp drop in body temperature.
Schrock added that the skater survived because of an air pocket that allowed him to breathe, although he was unable to move because of the snow blocks.
"He had a great deal of luck," the official said.