Tragic forest accident

Dead body discovered in the forest by sister and niece

A 59-year-old farmer died in an accident in the Wildschönau region of Tyrol on Thursday afternoon. The local man was probably hit by a tree during forestry work. Particularly tragic: after the man failed to return to the family farm, he was found dead in the forest by his sister and niece.

The 59-year-old had been carrying out logging work about 150 meters from the farm on Thursday afternoon. "When he did not return around 4.30 p.m. for pending stable work, his 66-year-old sister went into the nearby forest to check on him," said the police.

Chainsaw lying in the stream bed
She was initially unable to find her brother, but from an embankment she saw the chainsaw lying in the bed of a stream. "Due to the steep terrain there, the woman did not dare to climb down."

The niece climbed down to the stream bed and found her uncle lying between trees.

Die Polizei

The 66-year-old immediately alerted her niece, who then descended to the stream bed and found her uncle lying between trees. "She made an emergency call and administered first aid", the investigators continued. Unfortunately, however, all help came too late for the 59-year-old.

Hit by an unsecured tree
"According to initial investigations, the man was probably in the process of attaching a freshly cut tree to the wire rope of the tractor winch. In the process, he may have been injured so severely by another, unsecured tree about 20 centimetres thick that he died at the scene of the accident."