Night-time search operation

Driver hides in the forest after crash

The car ended up in the bed of a stream. Witnesses to the accident rescued the driver.(Bild: ZOOM Tirol)

A 70-year-old driver who crashed his car into a stream bed in Aurach (Tyrolean district of Kitzbühel) late on Friday evening refused to let anyone help him. Although the car had overturned several times, the injured man did not want to wait for rescue and disappeared into the forest. A large search operation was the result. 

The accident occurred on Friday at around 11 p.m. when the 70-year-old local man was driving his car down the alpine path below the Staffalm in Aurach. According to the police, he left the path. The car plunged down a slope and overturned several times before coming to rest on its roof in a stream bed around 50 to 100 meters below the mountain pasture. 

Injured man refused to come along twice
The hut owner and two other witnesses alerted the emergency services and freed the driver from his damaged vehicle. "However, the driver did not want to wait for the rescue and ran off," the police say.

After 1.5 hours, the driver was found leaning against a tree by the mountain rescue team.

Die Polizei in einer Aussendung

A search operation was launched involving Kitzbühel Mountain Rescue, the Aurach fire department, Kitzbühel Water Rescue and the police. At first, the man seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth. It was only after 1.5 hours that the mountain rescue team found the 70-year-old leaning against a tree. The man initially refused to go down into the valley with the rescuers, but eventually agreed. 

Accident victim in hospital, slightly intoxicated
The rescuers provided first aid to the slightly injured local man, who was then taken to the St. Johann in Tirol district hospital. According to the police, a breathalyzer test revealed that he was slightly intoxicated. 

The damaged vehicle could not be pulled up during the night due to the heavy rain. It will be recovered in the course of Saturday.