On foot from Slovenia

14-year-old Syrian in mountain distress was not alone

The mountain rescue team rescued the severely hypothermic 14-year-old (symbolic image).

(Bild: Österr. Bergrettungsdienst - Ortsstelle Villach )

The 14-year-old Syrian refugee who almost froze to death on Sunday while trying to enter Austria on foot via the snow-covered Karawanken mountains was apparently traveling with two other, older Syrians.

The two other men had already been picked up in the valley in St. Jakob im Rosental on Sunday morning, the police confirmed media reports.

Why was the 14-year-old left alone?
It was initially unclear why the teenager was left alone on the mountain. According to the police, he did not want to make any statements. In initial questioning, the 14-year-old stated that they had taken the train to Jesenice and then set off on foot to cross the green border into Austria.

On Sunday, a hiker had heard the already severely hypothermic teenager's cries for help. After raising the alarm, the 14-year-old was rescued by the mountain rescue team and taken to Klagenfurt Hospital. His condition is stable and he is receiving intensive medical care, it was reported on Wednesday.

Foot dragging or act of desperation?
The case is "very unusual", says Gerald Tatzgern from the Ministry of the Interior: "If it is a case of so-called foot smuggling, then the people are forced by the smugglers to cross the border on foot and are then picked up again." In this case, however, the teenager must have been desperate - this happens when migrants are stuck at the border for a long time and then try to make their way through on their own.

"They then choose very unusual routes and that usually goes wrong," says Tatzgern. However, he does not expect to see more illegal border crossings via the high mountains: "It's more likely to be train connections - if the migrants are caught, this is usually linked to an immediate application for asylum."