Peter Veider and Arno Piersteiner, the two experts from the Austrian Bergrettung discontinued their search Thursday evening and will return Friday to Austria. All indications are that the two 25-year-old Romanians (originally reported to be one missing Romanian) are buried meters deep under an avalanche. This was the result of triangulations of the victim’s cell phone made by the Romanian telecommunications experts who figured that the missing persons (or person) were buried under from 6 to 8 meters in a snow-filled canyon. All day Thursday, the Austrians and the Romanian rescuers searched the Prahova valley with the help of RECCO transmitters before terminating the search. The job of recovering the bodies of the victims will be the responsibility of the Romanians.
The two victims were relatively well equipped and experienced. The costs for this search and rescue operation will be taken care of by the families of the two victims, who are said to be financially well off with good government connections, according to a Romanian journalist.
Why did the Austrians go to Romania? This question has been publicly asked in Austria. The Austrians consider themselves to be experts with professional know-how but are also volunteers with the specialized skills needed for difficult rescues when human lives are at stake. They have responded with search dog teams to earthquakes in Iran and elsewhere with the financial support of donors, the government, the European Union and the UNO. When the skills of the Austrian Bergrettung are needed by their international partners how can they refuse to help. In the Talmud there is a saying that when someone rescues one person they rescue the entire world.
Recent Comments