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The Sun
11 hours ago
- Climate
- The Sun
Three hikers struck dead by lightning in Austrian Alps
VIENNA: Three experienced Austrian hikers were killed when lightning struck during a sudden thunderstorm in the Tyrolean Alps over the weekend, police told AFP on Tuesday. Authorities said such incidents are 'extremely rare' in the country of almost 9.2 million, which is famed for its mountain ranges. Lightning struck when a couple, both aged 60, and a 62-year-old relative were descending from the Mittagspitze mountain near the village of Flirsch in Tyrol province. 'Due to a sudden change in weather conditions, the group immediately began their descent at around 12:30 pm (1030 GMT), but they did not return,' police said in a statement. 'The trio was struck' at an altitude of about 2,270 metres (7,440 feet), where their bodies were later found near a trail by rescuers, a local police spokeswoman told AFP. After relatives reported them missing, a rescue operation including a helicopter was launched. According to Gregor Franke, head of operations at Tyrol's Mountain Rescue Service, such accidents are 'an exception'. To avoid getting stuck in thunderstorms, which tend to occur more often in the afternoon and evening, it is vital to 'depart earlier and come down earlier', Franke told Austrian press agency APA.
Boston Globe
04-02-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Two Massachusetts residents rescued overnight on Mt. Washington
GPS coordinates from 911 revealed the two were just 34 feet off the trail, officials said. A conservation officer directed them to the trail over the phone, and over the next two hours they 'fought their way through chest-deep snow and 'spruce traps' (holes created in the snow underneath trees) in an attempt to regain the trail,' officials said. Advertisement While the hikers ended up on the trail several times, they couldn't follow it for long due to 'wind and blowing snow,' officials said. Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up After multiple attempts and calls to Fish and Game, they opted to huddle in the snow together and await assistance, officials said. By 8:30 p.m., summit temperatures had plunged to 2 degrees below zero, with winds 'often gusting significantly higher' than 60 miles per hour. Volunteers from the Mountain Rescue Service group and members of the Fish and Game Department's advanced search and rescue team were called in to reach the hikers, officials said. 'The State Park's snow cat started up the mountain at 11:00 p.m. with 9 skilled rescuers, arriving at the summit just before midnight,' officials said. 'The crews ventured into whiteout conditions and snowshoed through deep, wind-blown snow toward the top end of the Jewell Trail below the summit of Mt. Clay.' By 1:20 a.m., rescuers were approaching the last known location of the two hikers but had yet to make contact. Rescuers found the hikers a half hour later. 'Both were alive and coherent, but suffering from cold-weather injuries,' officials said. Crew members immediately began warming the pair, a process that took an hour, officials said. The rescuers and hikers reached the base station of the Cog Railway around 4:15 a.m., and paramedics evaluated them, officials said. Advertisement One of the hikers was taken to a hospital for further evaluation and treatment, officials said. They didn't specify which hiker went to the hospital. Both hikers were prepared for a winter hike on the mountain, officials said. 'This incident exemplifies the need to prepare for the unexpected,' officials said. 'Both hikers were prepared and had winter hiking experience, but ultimately encountered unforeseen conditions. Had they not had the amount of gear that they had with them, it is unlikely that they would have survived until rescuers reached them.' Travis Andersen can be reached at
