Operation in the Lech Valley
Lucky escape for rafters – jumped off boat just in time
A trio of rafters from Upper Austria managed to jump from a boat at the last moment, which then collided with full force with a bridge pier in the Lech (Tyrol). A curious search operation took place on Wednesday evening in Innsbruck on the Inn.
Once again, it was the treacherous current in front of the Nikolaus Bridge near Elbigenalp in the Lech Valley. This was not the first time it had nearly proved fatal for inflatable boaters and rafters.
Shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, a trio of athletes from Upper Austria was heading downstream on the Lech near Elbigenalp. Before the Nikolaus Bridge, the rafters apparently got caught in this treacherous current, which leads toward the bridge’s pier.
“The trio recognized the danger, jumped out of the boat just in time, and were able to get to safety unharmed,” explains Josef Schnegg from the Breitenwang station of the water rescue service in the Reutte district. Then exactly what the athletes had feared happened: The current pushed the boat against the bridge pier, where it became lodged.
Five water rescue personnel from Breitenwang were dispatched to recover the boat—a thoroughly challenging task. “We called in the Elbigenalp/Bach mountain rescue team to assist us with the recovery,” reports water rescuer Schnegg.
We’ve had several callouts at the bridge in Elbigenalp before. The boat recovery went smoothly.
Josef Schnegg, Wasserrettung Breitenwang
Bild: Privat
The seven mountain rescuers then lowered one water rescuer several meters from the bridge, while two other water rescuers positioned themselves slightly downstream for safety reasons. With the help of a pulley system, the boat was finally pulled onto the bridge.
“Despite the impact and the rescue, it remained undamaged, and several pieces of equipment were still intact inside,” says Josef Schnegg.
“Person” in the Inn was a ball
The Innsbruck Water Rescue team, meanwhile, “fished” a ball out of the Inn River in Innsbruck on Wednesday. Around 6:50 p.m., a witness reported having allegedly seen a person in the Inn. A large-scale search operation—including a helicopter—was launched. The “person” ultimately turned out to be a ball.
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