2,500 injured during winter break in Polish mountains
PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp
02.03.2015 12:58
Some 2,500 people were injured and one person died on the ski slopes around Poland’s mountain resort of Zakopane during this year’s winter break.
Photo: PAP/Maciej Momot
Additionally, two recent avalanches were the cause of three deaths in the Tatra Mountains in southern Poland.
“During the winter break we had a lot of work, both on the slopes and in the mountains,” TOPR mountain rescuer Tomasz Wojciechowski told the PAP news agency.
Since 17 January, TOPR has rescued some 1,250 people, up from 971 people during last year’s winter break, with the rise in casualties due to better weather and skiing conditions this year.
Dr. Marian Papież, an orthopaedic surgeon from the county hospital in Zakopane, confirms that physicians had the most work during the holidays.
“We admitted almost 3,600 people during the break, around 70 percent of whom had received injuries from skiing or snowboarding,” Papież told PAP.
The most common of the injuries were serious leg breakages and knee injuries. “Most cases ended with an operation,” Papież said. (ps/jb)