Several deaths in avalanches in Austria | EUROtoday

As of: January 18, 2026 12:17 a.m

The snow state of affairs within the Alps has been explosive for days. Now eight folks have died in avalanches in Austria, others have been injured, some critically. A lot of rescue employees have been deployed.

A complete of eight folks died in three avalanches in Austria. This was introduced by mountain rescue and the police.

According to info, an avalanche fell on the two,150 meter excessive Finsterkopf within the Großarltal within the state of Salzburg within the afternoon. Seven ski tourers have been buried. According to mountain rescue, 4 members of the group may solely be rescued lifeless. The others have been injured, some critically.

Shortly earlier than, a girl who was touring together with her husband was hit by an avalanche within the Bad Hofgastein space. She additionally died underneath the lots of snow. In each circumstances, the origin and age of the lifeless and injured are nonetheless unclear.

Up to 50 centimeters of snow

“The avalanche situation is delicate,” mentioned the mountain rescue spokeswoman. Old and new snow are poorly linked to one another, in order that avalanches happen many times. “This tragedy painfully shows how serious the current avalanche situation is,” mentioned the district supervisor of the Pongau mountain rescue service, Gerhard Kremser.

According to the police, one other avalanche accident occurred within the Pusterwald municipality in Styria within the late afternoon. Seven Czech ski tourers have been within the space when an avalanche broke out. Three of them have been buried by the avalanche, the police mentioned. Any assist got here too late for her.

After a number of weeks with out snowfall, round 20 to 50 centimeters of snow had lately fallen regionally within the Austrian Alps. Most lately, a younger Czech and a person of unknown id died in two avalanche accidents within the open ski space. The authorities repeatedly enchantment to ski tourers to be extraordinarily cautious.