"We are very saddened"

Lachtal: Skier (50) killed in an accident

A 50-year-old skier had a fatal off-piste accident in the Lachtal ski area (Styria) on Wednesday afternoon. A search operation had already been launched for the missing vacationer. However, emergency services were only able to recover the man dead.

Together with a large group of friends and relatives, the 50-year-old from the district of Mistelbach (Lower Austria) had been on vacation in the Lachtal ski resort for the past few days. According to a friend, he was alone in the ski area on Wednesday afternoon.

Huge search operation
However, when he did not arrive at the agreed meeting point at 4 pm, his friends alerted the police. Initial investigations revealed that the missing man had last taken the Moralmbahn cable car up the mountain shortly after 1 pm. Numerous emergency services from the police, mountain rescue and the lift company subsequently launched a large-scale search operation in the alpine terrain. A police helicopter and two drone pilots also supported the search efforts.

The search operation in the dark was very demanding. We are all very saddened by the tragic end.

Karl Fussi, Geschäftsführer Skigebiet Lachtal

At around 7.40 pm, alpine police officers and a mountain rescuer made the tragic discovery: they found the missing man lying in a rivulet off piste no. 6. The man was already lifeless. Immediate resuscitation measures using a defibrillator were unable to help the man from Lower Austria. An emergency doctor finally determined the man's death.

Autopsy is pending
There were no indications of any external cause, which is why the public prosecutor's office released the body for burial. Due to the unclear cause of death, a local doctor suggested a post-mortem examination by the medical police.