Winter sports enthusiasts were buried and fatally injured in an avalanche on a closed ski route in Fiss in the Tyrolean district of Landeck on Wednesday morning, February 18, 2026.Image: APA/APA
Feb 18, 2026, 7:17 p.mFeb 18, 2026, 7:17 p.m
According to police, three people have died in dozens of avalanches in Austria. Among them is a German ski hiker, as a spokeswoman for the police in Tyrol told the German Press Agency.
In Tyrol alone, more than 30 avalanches were counted in one day, according to the state’s emergency call center. The German winter sports athlete was traveling with another man in the Tyrolean Navistal. Because of the danger of avalanches, they turned back, but a slab of snow came loose while crossing a slope, said the spokeswoman. One of the two was completely buried and died.
Another avalanche death was reported by the police in Fiss. It was said that the 71-year-old was in Tyrol as a tourist. The police did not provide any further information about the man. A man also died in an avalanche accident in the state of Vorarlberg. He was able to be dug out, but he died at the scene of the accident in the Sonnenkopf ski area, as the APA news agency reported, citing emergency services.
A series of avalanches also occurred in the state of Salzburg, and a 70-year-old ski tourer was rescued from the snow. The avalanche situation in western Austria is tense. The warning services declared the second highest danger level in Tyrol and Vorarlberg. (sda/dpa)