Difficult rescue

Rescue of a vacationer after a fall in a gorge

Symbolic image.

(Bild: zoom.tirol)

Sunday afternoon's hike in the Heiligengeistklamm gorge in Leutschach in southern Styria ended with a fall for a vacationer and a rescue by the emergency services. The rescue was made more difficult by the exposed location and poor telephone reception.

A woman from Hamburg, who is currently on vacation in Styria, had an unfortunate fall on a sloping, slippery rock at around 1.30 p.m. on Sunday while crossing the Heiligengeistklamm stream. The fire department, Red Cross, police and mountain rescue teams were called out together. When asked by the provincial police directorate, Reinhard Gartner confirmed the incident and said that the woman suffered a hand injury of indeterminate severity in yesterday's fall. 

The passing emergency caller was very difficult to reach by telephone due to the exposed location of the gorge and it took several minutes to finally locate the accident site. Two teams entered the gorge and, together with the police and rescue services, were able to locate and treat the injured woman. The woman was then able to leave the gorge on her own in the presence of her partner and the emergency services. The injured woman was then taken to Wagna Regional Hospital. 

Rescue in the Leoben district
The rescue services also had to respond to an alpine emergency in Eisenerz on Sunday. Two German mountaineers (23), both resident in Austria, were climbing the "Eisenerzer Reichenstein". After one of the two men started to slide on a snow field, they both became frightened and called the emergency services. At around 18:00, the two men were located by the police helicopter and rescued using a ten-metre rope. The two climbers remained unharmed.