Accident in East Tyrol

Kayaker drifted five kilometers and was killed

The kayaker first capsized and was then swept away in the river (symbolic image).

(Bild: thinkstockphotos.de (Symbolbild))

A 24-year-old German was killed in a kayaking accident in East Tyrol on Thursday. The young man had been kayaking with two compatriots in the whitewater river Schwarzach.

The three experienced German kayakers (24, 31 and 24 years old) entered the Schwarzach whitewater river near the Bavaria Alm in St. Jakob in Defereggen Valley. At the sewage treatment plant in St. Veit im Defereggental, two of the kayakers capsized due to a tree trunk getting stuck in the river.

Two colleagues got off lightly
The 31-year-old was able to rescue himself from the river under his own power, a 24-year-old kayaker was able to get out of his kayak and hold on to a tree stump in the middle of the river, from which he was rescued by an emergency helicopter and flown to Lienz Hospital with serious injuries.

The 24-year-old kayaker was able to get out of his kayak, but was subsequently swept along with the Schwarzach river for around five kilometers,

Aus dem Polizeibericht

Drifting helplessly away
The second kayaker, also 24 years old, was able to get out of his kayak, but was subsequently swept around five kilometers down the Schwarzach River before he was rescued from the river by the fire department at around 3:15 pm. The emergency doctor immediately started resuscitation measures, but these were unsuccessful and the man succumbed to his injuries on the spot.

Large rescue team
The Sankt Veit volunteer fire department with 28 firefighters, the Hopfgarten volunteer fire department with 23 firefighters, the Lienz water rescue service with eight firefighters, the C7 emergency helicopter, the Lienz Red Cross with nine firefighters including an emergency doctor, the crisis intervention team, the Matrei police with five officers and the Lienz police with one officer were deployed.