Minutes under water

54-year-old died on a whitewater kayak tour

The emergency services tried everything, but unfortunately in vain.(Bild: Österreichische Wasserrettung Landesverband OÖ)

A whitewater kayaking trip ended in tragedy for a 54-year-old Czech man. The experienced water sportsman got into an emergency situation with his kayak and was apparently under water for several minutes. He was flown to hospital under ongoing resuscitation, but died there shortly afterwards.

A fatal kayak accident occurred in Weißenbach am Attersee at around 11.40 am on Thursday. A 54-year-old Czech citizen was on a whitewater kayak tour along the Gimbach. The 54-year-old knew the tour and its danger spots and was traveling ahead in his kayak. Nevertheless, he fell from his kayak in a whitewater eddy and was unable to free himself from the emergency situation due to the strong eddies.

Colleague rushed to help
His colleague and other kayakers rushed to his aid and alerted the emergency services. He was brought to the shore by a kayaker using a jumper rescue technique and from there, after receiving emergency medical treatment, was brought to the forest road about 50 meters higher up by the Martin 3 rescue helicopter and flown to the Kepler University Hospital while resuscitation was ongoing. He died there a short time later.