Costly rescue: Helicopters evacuate 36 hikers in Tyrol
Three families — including small children in strollers — were stranded above 2,300 metres after a spontaneous hike; Tyrol police say families will be billed.
Tyrol police reported that a complex helicopter rescue saved 36 ill‑equipped hikers — members of three families, including small children in strollers — after they became stranded above 2,300 metres during a spontaneous mountain walk.
The group had set out from the Wildspitzbahn station near Sölden. According to authorities, the hikers included adults, teenagers and several small children and were not carrying appropriate mountain equipment.
How the operation unfolded
Two helicopters were deployed and airlifted 14 people, four of them by winch. Mountain rescuers escorted a further 22 people down to the valley on foot. No injuries were reported.
Rescuers said the party had repeatedly moved onto difficult and hazardous terrain and at times strayed from the marked path. Two members of the group eventually placed an emergency call for help. The rescued hikers held citizenship of Belgium, the United Kingdom, the United States and Austria.
Police in Tyrol also said the cost of the rescue operation will be billed to the families.
In a separate incident elsewhere in the Alps, an avalanche in Italy killed five German hikers.
Photo: MATTHIAS BEIN / AFP / Profimedia
