A canyoning tour in the Allgäu has been fatal to a 27-year-old woman - she was rescued dead from the Starzlachklamm near Sonthofen on Sunday.

According to the police, the young woman and other canyoning athletes were swept away in the gorge on Saturday after a thunderstorm by the rapidly rising water. A 31- and a 49-year-old man were injured and rescued.

The emergency call from the gorge was received by the police and rescue workers around 6 p.m. on Saturday. Mountain and water rescue service, volunteer fire brigade, THW, DLRG and the alpine police task force rescued several people from the gorge, including the two injured men, and searched for the missing woman in the Starzlach and Ostrach rivers until nightfall.

Drones and helicopters in use

In addition to 150 people, drones and two helicopters were also used. However, visibility in the normally clear water was poor after the storm, a police spokesman said. The young woman's body was found in the gorge early Sunday morning.

Canyoning is an adventurous tour through a gorge with abseiling, climbing, jumping, sliding and swimming. The Starzlach Gorge in Oberallgäu is considered a hotspot for this leisure sport. Several organizers offer guided tours there. On Saturday afternoon, around 60 to 70 people should have been on or in the gorge, said the police spokesman.

Danger of heavy rain

After the heavy rain, at least eight people were trapped by the water masses and at least three were swept away. It is now being checked whether the organizer was at fault in the accident. The public prosecutor's office in Kempten is investigating.

There are now two canyoning officers in the alpine task force of the police headquarters in Kempten. Serious accidents happen again and again in canyoning. In April, a 27-year-old Dutchman died while canyoning in Ticino, in May 2021 a 27-year-old woman from Wiesbaden fell down a waterfall while canyoning in Austria's Kleinwalsertal and died.

The worst accident happened in 1999 in the Bernese Oberland: 21 people were killed when the Saxetbach near Interlaken suddenly swelled after a summer thunderstorm and took a canyoning group with it.

The seriously injured 49-year-old was still in the hospital on Sunday. The 31-year-old should be released later today.