The hiking route is actually described on the Internet as a “classic after-work route”. In fact, the route chosen by 99 young people and 8 teachers from the Ludwigshafen area is unsuitable for beginners. The trip ends with an emergency call.
More than 100 students and teachers from Germany have been rescued from mountain distress by helicopter in Kleinwalsertal, Austria. The 99 young people aged 12 to 14 and 8 teachers from the Ludwigshafen area were on a route that was too difficult for their equipment and skills on Tuesday, as the Vorarlberg police announced at night.
The teachers chose the route based on misleading information from the Internet. The route was described online as a “classic after-work tour”, the police said. “In fact, the narrow Heuberggrat is a partially exposed path with climbing passages that require a head for heights, sure-footedness and experience in alpine terrain.”
The ground was also wet and slippery. When part of the group decided to turn back, two students slipped and were slightly injured. Since individual students then panicked, the teachers made an emergency call.
All 107 people were then taken to a nearby forest road with two helicopters, as the mayor of Mittelberg, Andi Haid, said. In addition to the two slightly injured, several students were “exhausted, hypothermic, soaked and completely dissolved,” the police said.
