Rescuers are racing against time on Austria’s Stubai Glacier after a huge avalanche roared down the mountain on Thursday morning.
It ended up swallowing skiers and leaving a giant field of debris in its wake. The deadly slide struck without warning at nearly 9:30 am, thundering through open terrain near the Daunscharte pass, which is a notorious stretch outside the protected ski runs.
Cops mentioned that several off-piste skiers were on the slope at that moment in time, and it’s said to have triggered this avalanche alone, right before it was swept away and buried beneath tonnes of snow.
As per local media outlets, six skiers were partially buried and have now been dragged alive from the snow, which many called a miraculous escape given the scale of the slide.
Rescuers are still assessing the condition of those rescued, and it remains unclear as to how severe their injuries might be.
What is now clear is how the operation on the glacier ended up exploding into a massive-scale emergency mission as teams rushed to find anyone who was still trapped beneath that icy rubble.