Dutch Prince Johan Friso buried alive by avalanche in Austria

“I have spoken with the Queen, and she and Princess Mabel are at the hospital
now,” said Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, in a brief statement.

“The prince is stable but not out of danger, and we await more information.
Austria has excellent medical care and we have great faith in it.”

Prince Friso was part of a group of four that was skiing off-piste early
Friday afternoon when the avalanche struck near the village of Lech in
western Austria.

All other members of the party escaped when the 30-metre (100ft) wide torrent
of snow struck, but the prince was buried.

“After the emergency call, rescue crews were on the scene with rescue
helicopters. He was located immediately and freed,” a police official said.

The upmarket town of Lech is a popular destination with the Dutch royal family
and Prince Friso took his family there last year for a winter holiday.

Heavy snow falls had prompted the Tyrol region, according to the Austrian
newspaper Kurier, to post an avalanche warning of four out of a maximum of
five on Friday for the village of Lech.

A “four” warning means that skiers should not take to the slopes.

Dutch media quoted a professional skier familiar with the area who said he
“could not believe that somebody with as much experience as the prince was
skiing off-piste”.

He added that he had skied the slopes around Lech only last week and “it had
scared him to death.”

Prince Friso, who has an degree in mechanical engineering, lives in London
with his wife and two daughters, and works as chief financial officer for
Urenco, a uranium enrichment company based in Berkshire.

In 2004 he renounced his right of accession to the Dutch throne by marrying
Mabel Wisse Smit, a commoner although he remained a member of the Dutch
Royal House.

The marriage prompted a major scandal in Holland after it emerged that Smit
had had a relationship with a well-known figure in the Dutch underworld and
drug dealer who was later murdered.

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