Dutch prince injured in Austrian avalanche

Feb 17, 2012 |

VIENNA

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A son of Dutch Queen Beatrix, Prince Johan Friso, was injured in an avalanche while skiing in the western Austrian resort of Lech on Friday, the royal family said.

The prince was in a stable condition 'but not out of danger' in an Austrian hospital after being buried, the Dutch royal house said in a statement from The Hague, quoting doctors treating him.

The 43-year-old Dutch royal apparently spent 15 minutes under the snow before he was rescued and evacuated by helicopter to Innsbruck University Hospital, the Austrian Press agency said.

The mayor of Lech confirmed to Austrian radio ORF that the injured person was a member of the Dutch royal family and had to be resuscitated.

The accident apparently occurred shortly after noon. The prince was accompanied by a small group but nobody else was believed to have been injured in the avalanche, APA said.

Innsbruck University Hospital confirmed that the Dutch prince had been brought there for treatment, using the same terms as the royal house.

"He's here. He's stable but his condition is still life-threatening," a spokesman said, referring all other inquiries to the royal press office.

According to Dutch news agency ANP, Queen Beatrix, her elder son Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, his wife Maxima and their three daughters arrived in Lech on Sunday.

The Dutch royals regularly spend their ski holidays in the posh resort of Lech, in the westernmost province of Vorarlberg.

Prince Johan Friso is the second son of Queen Beatrix and the brother of Willem-Alexander.

After he married in 2004 without the government's permission, he was excluded from the royal family and is no longer seen as an heir to the throne, but he keeps the title Prince of Orange-Nassau.

Johan Friso has been chief financial director of Britain's URENCO group -- dealing with nuclear fuel supply -- since 2011, and previously worked with the investment bank Goldman Sachs.

He also received a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Delft and in economics from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, according to his biography on URENCO's website.

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