ENGULFED BY SNOW.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 3, 5 January 1927, Page 7

ENGULFED BY SNOW.

AVALANCHE DISASTEE. | I EYE-WITNESS' ACCOUNT. j LONDON, January 4. j r The avalanche disaster at Zures, in the 11 Austrian Tyrol, has caused a sensation j t in Europe. A message from Vienna j gives further details. Ten tiny figures were seen climbing i Trittkoff by an eye-witness of the dis- ! aster, who says the side of the mountain seemed all at once to move. A huge mass of snow fell like a waterfall, with | a noise like thunder, on a front of half a mile. In horror the spectator involuntarily closed his eyes. When he opened them the ten figures had vanished, and the configuration of the mountain-side was completely changed. The first avalanche was roughly half a mile long and from 20 to 25 feet wide. It descended from the Valluga Mountain, the result of a -warm, south wind. The two parties of English and German ski-ers were about one-third of a mile apart, and were nearing the summit of Valluga, 5000 feet, when the first avalanche swept them off their feet. It was immediately followed by a second and larger avalanche, which engulfed both groups, some to a depth of 30 feet. If the English party had been given two minutes they could have sheltered behind a large rock. One of the rescuers, all of whom were forced to wear skis, saw the tip of a ski protruding from the snow, and pulled out Mary Woodward, an Englishwoman. She was badly bruised and suffering from concussion, but is likely to recover. Nearby the arm of a German was seen. He was rescued alive. Two bodies of the victims have not yet been recovered. The party took an undue risk in going up the mountain without a guide. I