Vienna, June 30, (dpa/GNA) – Around 200 stranded people were evacuated from an Austrian mountain valley on Monday, after heavy rains triggered several mudslides, the Defence Ministry said.
The Austrian military deployed two helicopters to fly day-trippers out of the Kaunertal valley in the state of Tyrol. Three mudslides descended onto the main access road on Sunday, following heavy rainfall, blocking the road with rubble and mud, the state authorities said.
Around 200 people who had come to the scenic valley near the Italian border for day trips were unable to leave the area, forcing them to spend the night in a mountain refuge and a mountain restaurant.
Around 10 people were airlifted out on Sunday for medical reasons, Elmar Rizzoli from the Tyrol crisis centre told dpa. No one had been injured in the mudslides, he said.
The state meteorological institute, Geosphere Austria, warned of further thunderstorms in Tyrol. From Monday afternoon and on Tuesday, small mudslides, local flooding and disruption to roads and rail links remain possible, it said.
GNA