Dutch and British skiers die in Tyrol avalanche

Dutch and British skiers die in Tyrol avalanche
Avalanche warning. Photo: Root5.5/Wikimedia
A British man and a Dutch man have died after being caught in a huge avalanche in Tyrol in western Austria.

The body of the 22-year-old Dutch man was dug out of the snow on Saturday and the 40-year-old British man died on Sunday evening at a hospital in Innsbruck. An 18-year-old from Holland was also caught in the avalanche and was seriously injured. He’s being treated in hospital.

The men were part of a ski touring group of ten people who were climbing uphill in a rocky area in the Ferwall valley in Obergurgl when the avalanche descended on Saturday afternoon. Most of the group were able to free themselves from the snow and two of them skied downhill to alert the rescue services.

Experts examined the site where the accident happened on Sunday and said that the avalanche had affected a large area at the end of the valley. They think the ski touring group may have triggered the snowslide. The avalanche was 1000 meters long and between 600 and 800 meters wide.