Dutch family rescued after night on Austrian mountain

Nine Dutch tourists had to spend a night on a mountain in Austria after getting lost during a hike. They got into trouble in the evening, and rescue workers only found them early the following day, De Telegraaf reports. They were exhausted but unharmed.

According to the Austrian police, the tourists are between 12 and 28 years old. They are part of a family holidaying in Eisenerz, northwest of the city of Graz.

The teenagers and young adults decided to hike the Kaiserschild, a mountain of almost 2,100 meters high. According to the authorities, they didn’t prepare for the hike, not wearing hiking shoes and taking no light, food, or water.

They got lost on their way back. One of the stranded hikers messaged their parents in the valley, and they called in the emergency services. But they gave the wrong location, so it took rescue workers hours to find the young hikers.

They finally found them early in the morning, exhausted but unharmed. They had to abseil part of the route down with the help of rescue workers.