The 55-year-old hiker from our country left Scharnitz, near Innsbrück, last Sunday. He would make a multi-day hut tour through the Karwendel Mountains in Tyrol. The Belgian (55) called his brother for the last time on Thursday. He had already spent the night in three different mountain huts.
However, the man never arrived at the fourth mountain hut, the Hallerangerhaus, to which he was heading. The man in his fifties suddenly disappeared from the radar. His family in our country was no longer able to reach him.
Nighttime quest
On Saturday evening, his brother reported the disappearance of the 55-year-old Belgian to the Austrian police. The mountain rescue services in the region were then called in. Thanks to instructions from concerned relatives in Belgium, they managed to limit the search area. Both Scharnitz and Schwaz mountain rescuers searched in vain for the missing hiker until 4:30 am on Saturday night.
After a briefing on Sunday morning, mountain rescuers continued the search on board a helicopter. In the Vomperloch area, at an altitude of about 1,100 meters, they saw the victim lying around 9:15 am. The helicopter was able to land nearby.
Injured
The missing hiker appeared to be injured in the leg. He could no longer move himself. The 55-year-old was completely exhausted, soaking wet and hypothermic. According to the emergency services, his body temperature was only 32 degrees. The man has been taken to Schwaz hospital.
According to the Austrian newspaper Krone Zeitung it’s a small miracle that the man is still alive. “The fact that the Belgian survived several nights with temperatures below freezing point in the open air is probably due to his good equipment,” he said.
A lot of precipitation had fallen in the Alps in recent days. The snow line dropped to 700 to 1000 meters. In some places, up to 70 centimeters of snow was forecast or even more.
