Rescuer dies trying to save climber who had plunged 150ft into crevasse

A mountain rescue expert died when he asked to dropped from a rope as he dangled beneath a helicopter - only to fall on to a jagged crevasse below.

The rescue chopper had been scrambled to save a 40-year-old climber who had plunged nearly 150ft down the the precipice on the Grossvenediger mountain range in Austria's East Tyrol.

Alpine policeman Franz Franzeskon, 52, and two colleagues were being lowered on a harness when freak high winds set in and they asked the pilot to release them instantly.

'They apparently misjudged the distance they still had to go and fell some way on to rocks,' said one official.

Franzeskon died instantly in the fall while the two others are recovering in hospital from multiple injuries.

Officials called off the original hunt for the climber, who is still reported as missing. Police and the public prosecutor's office are investigating the incident.

The Grossvenediger mountain lies at 3,657 metres and is Austria's fourth highest peak on the border of Salzburg and East Tyrol.

It is the second time this month that rescue workers have been called into action to assist in a rescue on the mountain.

A Hungarian ski tourer was rescued after 14 hours stuck in a crevasse on April 9.

The skier plunged 10 metres into the crevasse - a friend notified rescuers who after 14 hours were able to get the man out.


/dailymail.co.uk/