Late sigh of relief

Mystery of missing stand-up paddler solved

A sigh of relief in the Tyrolean Außerfern: After emergency services spent hours searching for a capsized stand-up paddler on the Lech river on Thursday without success - as reported by the "Krone " - the man contacted the police a day later. 

The man explained on Friday afternoon at the Elbigenalp police station that he had not noticed the large-scale search operation for him. Otherwise he would have contacted the officers earlier. He had finally found out that he had been searched for the day before through the media appeal for witnesses. 

The water sports enthusiast stated that he had not noticed the search operation, otherwise he would of course have contacted the police immediately.

Die Polizei in einer Aussendung

Local man raised the alarm
A local man (66) had observed the man standing on his paddleboard on the Lech in Stanzach at around 7.40 pm on Thursday. The water sports enthusiast then lost his balance at a rapid, fell off the board and, according to the eyewitness, was swept away. Because the 66-year-old could no longer spot the paddler, he made an emergency call. 

Several fire departments, mountain and water rescuers and the Red Cross searched the Lech for the missing man for around two hours with the help of drones and a helicopter, but then had to call off the operation without any results. 

Missing man swam to shore unharmed
As it turned out on Friday, the man swam to shore unharmed shortly after falling into the water and took a bus back to his car.