Avalanche claims a third victim

Feb 15 2013

A man injured in an avalanche in the Scottish Highlands which killed another man and a woman has died, police have said.

The trio were airlifted from the Chalamain Gap area of the Cairngorms to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary shortly after 12.30pm on Thursday, where a man and the woman died.

The second man, left in a critical condition, died from his injuries, Northern Constabulary said. His family was being informed.

Police, Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, search and rescue dogs, RAF Lossiemouth's rescue team and a helicopter were involved in the operation yesterday.

David Rutledge, the training officer for Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, was involved in controlling the operation from the team's base.

He said: "We started mobilising within 15 minutes of the call coming through. We had a helicopter here incredibly quickly. We had three doctors available straight away who were able to get to the scene.

"This was a fairly contained scenario. We were able to deal with an incident which was relatively close to the roadside, within 2km of the ski road and in a very contained area. From that perspective, no search was necessary. The key aspect to this was to get people there as quickly as possible."

Two helicopters from RAF Lossiemouth, Rescue 137 and 138, were involved in the operation, he said.

Mr Rutledge said two parties of six were involved in the incident Those not taken to hospital were walked off the hill.