SKIING TRAGEDY.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18891, 5 January 1927, Page 7

SKIING TRAGEDY.

MOUNTAIN SEEMED TO MOVE. ffrE-WITNESS'S ACCOUNT. (BT CABLE-PfcE33 ASSOCIATION—COPTMOiT.) (AT7BTBALUH AKD K.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION (Received January 4th, 5.5 p.m.) VIENNA, January 4.

Details of the avalanche disaster in the Tyrol have created a sensation throughout Europe. A bank clerk, the only eye-witness, states that ten tiny figures could be seen climbing the Trittkoff, when the mountain-side seemed to move and a hugo mass of snow fell like a waterfall with a noise of thunder on a front of half a mile. The spectator involuntarily closed his eyes, and when he opened them the ten had vanished and the configuration of the mountain-side had completely changedIf the English party had been given a couple of minutes it could have .sheltered behind a laTge rock. As it was, a human hand protruding from the snow was the only clue to the scene of the disaster. Later the tip of a Bki led to rescuers saving Mary Woodward. She was badly bruised about the body and was suffering from shock, but she is likely to recover. The party made the mistake of going withbiit a guide.

SIX LONDONERS VICTIMS. (AUSTRALIA!? AOT3 tf.Z. CA6L4 ASSbCIATIOIT.) VIENNA, January 3. Six of the victims of the avalanche at Ztirs Were Londoners. THREE EXTRICATED ALIVE. (Srnm "Sto" Slavics.) LONDON, January 3. An Englishman, an Englishwoman, and a German were extricated alive fr6m the Zurs avalanche. Two bodies have not been recovered. The avalanches descended from the Valluga mountain, and was roughly half a mile long and 20 to 25 feet wide. Two parties of English and German ski-era were about a third of a mile apart when the watchers in the valley saw the wall of snow descending upon them. The avalanche was caused by a warm south wind. The ski-ers were nearing the summit of Valluga (6000 feet) when the first avalanche swept them off their feet. A second. 800 yards long and 50 yards Wide, immediately engulfed both groups, some to a depth of 30 feet. The noise of falling rooks, stone, snow, and ice terrified the inhabitants for miles around. One of the rescuers, who were all forced to wear skis, says that he first saw the ski of an Englishwoman protruding from the snow and pulled her out. She was suffering from concussion. Nearby the arm of a German was also visible, and he was rescued. After that it was guesswork to locate the engulfed people.