Three hikers, two brothers and the wife of one of the men, were killed by a lightning strike during a thunderstorm in Austria’s Tyrolean Alps over the weekend, police confirmed on Monday.
The tragic incident occurred on Sunday afternoon as the trio descended the Mittagsspitze mountain near the village of Flirsch. According to a spokesperson for the Alpine police in the western town of Landeck, it is believed that the couple, both aged 60, and the 62-year-old brother were struck and killed simultaneously by the same bolt of lightning.
Emergency responders discovered the victims’ bodies near a mountain path at an altitude of approximately 2,268 metres (7,440 feet) after a rescue helicopter was dispatched to the scene.
The deaths mark a rare and fatal lightning-related event in the region, prompting fresh warnings about the dangers of hiking during unstable weather conditions.
Authorities have urged hikers to take extreme caution and monitor weather forecasts closely before venturing into the mountains, especially during the summer thunderstorm season.
Melissa Enoch
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