Warning ignored

Injured hiker rescued from closed valley

The fire department and rescue team had to rescue the injured hiker from the Pesenbach Valley(Bild: FF Bad Mühllacken)

"GESPERRT" is emblazoned at the entrance to the Pesenbach Valley in Feldkirchen an der Donau. There are also scissor fences and barrier tape. But once again, these did not stop hikers from putting their lives in danger. On Sunday, firefighters had to be called out to rescue an injured hiker from the valley.

The helpers from the Bad Mühllacken volunteer fire department (municipality of Feldkirchen an der Donau) were surprised when they were called out to a rescue mission in the Pesenbach Valley: A hiker had injured himself and was unable to continue.

We were surprised by the call-out, as the Pesenbach Valley is actually closed. Please note the closure! Safety is our top priority

Feuerwehr Bad Mühllacken

Nothing unusual in itself, but as you know, the nature reserve is currently closed - the snow had pushed down trees and there was a risk of falling rocks. 

The hiker is taken care of(Bild: FF Bad Mühllacken)

Transport by tractor to the transfer point with the rescue team(Bild: FF Bad Mühllacken)

The emergency services also used a rescue stretcher(Bild: FF Bad Mühllacken)

For this reason, the Floriani team did not actually expect a rescue operation to be necessary here - apart from accidents at work when repairing the damage. However, hikers had repeatedly ignored the warnings in the past and deliberately put themselves in danger.

Rescue on the tractor
The firefighters were able to carry the injured man to safety on a stretcher and with the help of a tractor along a path to a nearby inn, where he was handed over to the rescue team for transportation.