On the Dachstein

Thunderstorm stops search operation for missing poet

The search for Bodo Hell had to be stopped due to an approaching thunderstorm

(Bild: APA/dpa-Zentralbild/Julian Stähle)

The search operation for the missing Viennese writer Bodo Hell (81), which has been underway in the Dachstein region since Sunday, remained unsuccessful until Monday evening. In the late afternoon, the operation had to be interrupted due to an approaching thunderstorm, according to the mountain rescue service.

Witnesses had last seen the author at around 11 a.m. on Friday. He had told the hikers that he wanted to look for his cattle in the alpine terrain between Grafenbergalm and Heilbronnerkreuz. Since then, there has been no trace of him, according to the Upper Austrian police. The missing man has not been reachable on his cell phone since Friday and has never arrived at his destination, according to the Obertraun Mountain Rescue Service.

Not in the hut
After he was also not found in his hut, the emergency services were alerted on Sunday. In addition to the Upper Austrian Mountain Rescue Service and the mountain rescue services of the Styrian Dachstein communities, helicopters from the Salzburg and Graz police forces and the Austrian Armed Forces were also involved in the operation until nightfall on Sunday.

30 mountain rescuers in action
The search resumed on Monday morning. More than 30 mountain rescuers from Obertraun and Hallstatt combed the area together with the alpine task force of the police and several search dogs. A drone was also used. The local expert knows the area on the Dachstein Krippenstein very well and is therefore "often on lesser-known paths, which makes the search even more difficult", according to the mountain rescue team.

The search continues on Tuesday morning
The search had to be interrupted on Monday afternoon due to a thunderstorm. The search operation on the high plateau of the Dachstein plateau will be resumed on Tuesday morning.

Winner of literary prize
Hell was awarded the Styrian Literature Prize this year. Born in Salzburg, he spends his summers in an alpine hut on the Grafenbergalm, where he not only herds around a hundred animals, but also writes his books.