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On Wednesday (August 12, 2020) there was a canyoning accident in the Parlitobel gorge in Vättis (Pfäfers municipality), in which three Spanish tourists died. A fourth man is still missing. The police of the canton of St. Gallen reported this. Since the day of the event, despite the difficult conditions, attempts have been made to continue with the search for missing persons.
On the day of the incident, after the report was received at 7 p.m., about 100 rescuers were on duty. In addition to various patrols of the St. Gallen cantonal police with special drone units, alpine task forces, police divers and dog handlers, the Pizol rescue station with canyoning specialists from Alpine Rescue Eastern Switzerland, two Rega helicopters, one Army superpuma, the Zurich cantonal police helicopter were employed by Gigerwald Power Station and a psychological first aid team in action.
Due to an approaching thunderstorm, the search for the fourth missing person had to be canceled the night of August 13, 2020 at 3 a.m. It resumed in the early hours of the morning of the same day, but was unfortunately unsuccessful and had to be suspended again in the afternoon due to bad weather. That day, 15 members of the Alpine Rescue Eastern Switzerland (ARO), as well as search dogs from the ARO area and the police were on duty. A Rega helicopter dropped canyoning specialists into the gorge to search it. Police divers searched the Gigerwald reservoir with a boat, but had to deal with extremely poor underwater visibility conditions of a maximum of 50 cm. The shore of the lake was also searched with drones and the police helicopter.
In the following days, patrols from the responsible police region, occasionally with the support of specialists, inspected the accident site and, in particular, searched the area between the exit of the gorge and the beginning of the lake.
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August 14, 2020: Search area inspection. Another search flight by helicopter.
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August 15, 2020: Search area inspection. Massive ground displacements detected due to the rains of the previous night.
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08/16/2020: Inspection of the search area with dogs. Find scraps of rope. A new search at the location of the rope did not uncover the missing person.
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08/17/2020: Planned search with body sniffing dogs. It is not done due to storms and excessive water levels to ensure the safety of emergency services. Instead, a visual inspection on site.
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August 18, 2020: Search area inspection. Find more strings left. A new search at the location of the rope did not uncover the missing person.
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August 19, 2020: Search area inspection. Again, massive terrain changes can be detected due to rainfall.
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08/20/2020: Search with corpse detection dogs of the canton of Zurich police. Search between the exit of the gorge and the beginning of the lake. Use survey poles and dig where dogs have indicated possible weather conditions. Unsuccessfully.
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August 21, 2020: New inspection of the gorge by canyoning specialists from Alpine Rescue Eastern Switzerland. Optimal conditions with little water in the gorge. There is no evidence of missing persons within the gorge.
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August 22/23, 2020 – Due to constant weather conditions, there are no terrain changes or new search approaches.
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08/24/2020: Another helicopter search flight.
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August 25-29, 2020: Due to constant weather conditions, there are no terrain changes or new search approaches.
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08/30/2020: Inspection of the search area. The heavy rains on August 29/30, 2020 produced huge amounts of water. The creek bed was redesigned again. The search was unsuccessful.
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August 31, 2020 – Due to constant weather conditions, there are no terrain changes or new search approaches.
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09/01/2020: Inspection of the search area using a metal detector. Unsuccessfully.
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02.09.2020: Use of police divers. Visibility in the Gigerwald reservoir was problematic. This was a maximum of 30 to 50 cm. For the police divers, this meant that the lake bed had to be scanned. Unsuccessfully.
The search log above clearly shows that searching in alpine terrain is very difficult. The meeting of the emergency services changed terrain, especially after heavy rains. Only these terrain changes bring about new possible search approaches when discovering previously hidden locations. On several consecutive days with no terrain changes, repeated search efforts in areas that have already been searched are pointless.
Unfortunately, a body search must be assumed during these search missions. Therefore, the operations management of the cantonal police of St. Gallen places the highest priority on the safety of the emergency services deployed. Further searches can only be accepted if the weather conditions are ideal.
The use of other technical aids, such as an excavator, was also proven. Despite intense searching, no promising excavation sites have yet been identified. The search area is simply too large without accurate clues.
The San Galo canton police are in close contact with the Spanish embassy in Switzerland and the families of the victims and the missing person. As part of this cooperation, the relatives expressed the wish that a Spanish rescue team be deployed. The police of the canton of San Galo are ready to involve a team from Spain in a search operation, provided that the weather situation and the security of the emergency services allow it. The Canton of St. Gallen Police welcome you if private searches are not initiated.
In the upcoming autumn and winter situation, the weather situation should be closely monitored. The onset of winter limits search measures or leads to their interruption. Until this is the case, search efforts will continue in the same framework.
