Bavaria Five dead in two avalanches in Austria
A total of five people have died in two avalanches in Austria. A spokeswoman for the Salzburg Mountain Rescue Service told the German Press Agency.
17.01.2026, 18:07
SDA
According to the information, an avalanche hit the 2,150-metre-high Finsterkopf in Grossarltal in the province of Salzburg in the afternoon. Seven ski tourers were buried in the avalanche. According to the mountain rescue team, four members of the group could only be rescued dead. The others were injured, some of them seriously.
Shortly before this, a woman who was out skiing with her husband was caught in an avalanche in the Bad Hofgastein area. She also died under the masses of snow.
In both cases, the origin and age of the dead and injured are still unclear.
Avalanche danger in the region
"The avalanche situation is delicate", the mountain rescue spokeswoman continued. Old and fresh snow are poorly connected, so that avalanches keep coming loose. "This tragedy painfully shows how serious the current avalanche situation is", said Gerhard Kremser, district manager of the Pongau Mountain Rescue Service.
A large number of rescuers were involved in the accidents. 90 mountain rescuers, other helpers and several helicopters reportedly helped to recover the dead and fly the injured to hospitals.
After several weeks without snowfall, around 20 to 50 centimetres of snow had recently fallen in the Austrian Alps. Most recently, a young Czech and a man of unknown identity were killed in two avalanche accidents in the open ski area. The authorities repeatedly appeal to ski tourers to be extremely careful.
