Ski trip disaster as family buried alive in snowdrift for two days

Updated
Ski trip disaster as family buried alive in snowdrift for two days
Ski trip disaster as family buried alive in snowdrift for two days

PA


A family who got buried in a snowdrift while heading off on a skiing holiday have been rescued after a two-day search.

David and Yvonne Higgins set off for their ski trip with their five-year-old daughter, Hannah, on Sunday, and were travelling in an SUV with snow tyres.

But they got caught in a blizzard on a rural highway after they crossed into New Mexico.

They managed to follow a snow plough for a while, before there was a complete white-out and visibility 'dropped to zero'.

The car got stuck and, while trying to move ahead, its back end slipped down an embankment.

Mr Higgins said he had started to believe his family might not survive. According to the Mirror, he said: "By nine or 10 Monday night, I realised there was solid snow outside my window. I tried to shove my arm through the top of the window. I thought, 'It can't be that deep'".

"I pushed as hard as I could. My arm went about 16 inches and there was still snow."

They kept the car running for about two hours, and honked the horn to try and alert other drivers.

A travel DVD player and mobile phone games helped pass the time. But, as the hours went on, they started to fear they were running out of air, which Mr Higgins described as 'spooky'.

Eventually, state police received a distress call (origin unknown) and launched a search for the family on Tuesday.

The National Guard and state transportation workers used trucks with ploughs and four-wheel drives pushing through snowdrifts as high as 10ft looking for the car.

They finally came across the bonnet, and dug four feet down before smashing a window to get the family to safety.

Mr and Mrs Higgins were being treated for pneumonia at Miners Colfax Medical Centre in Raton, while little Hannah was lethargic but fine.


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