Busy summer for Polish mountain rescuers

Rescuers in Poland’s southern Tatra mountains say they have provided emergency assistance to more than 120 hikers since the start of the summer season.

Mount Giewont in Poland's southern Tatra mountains. Photo: Opioła Jerzy, GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)

via Wikimedia Commons

The number of emergencies increased by 15 percent over the same period last year, according to the Tatra Volunteer Rescue Service (TOPR).

By last week a total of 44 people had suffered serious injuries, with no fatal accidents reported, the service’s Kamil Suder told Poland’s PAP news agency.

Two hikers had died of natural causes while on mountain trails, Suder said.

The Polish Tatras are a popular vacation destination in both summer and winter, attracting about 3.5 million tourists annually.

The mountains offer 275 kilometres of marked trails of different levels of difficulty.

(mk/gs)