A huge block broke off this Sunday, July 3 from the Marmolada glacier, the largest in the Italian Alps, causing an avalanche which left at least five dead and eight injured.
” Unfortunately, five people were found dead “Said a spokeswoman for Italian relief, also reporting eight injuries for this” balance sheet still provisional “. Two injured were taken to hospital in Belluno, a more serious one in Treviso, and five in Trento, she said, without giving details of the nationality of the victims.
Several helicopters were deployed on the spot to take part in the rescue operations and monitor the evolution of the situation.
” An avalanche of snow, ice and rock which in its path hit the access road when several roped parties were there, some of whom were swept awaysaid the spokeswoman. The definitive number of climbers involved is not yet known. “.
According to the civil protection department of the nearby Veneto region, “ all the alpine rescue teams in the area have been mobilized », including canine units. The glacier collapsed near the locality of Punta Rocca, along the route normally taken to reach its summit.
Temperature record the day before
Footage filmed from a shelter near the disaster shows snow mixed with rock rolling down the slopes of the mountain with a crashing sound. Other images taken by tourists on their cellphones show from afar the greyish tongue of the avalanche carrying everything in its path.
This collapse of the glacier occurred the day after a record temperature reached at the top of the glacier: ten degrees. According to experts quoted by the daily Il Corriere della Seranew ice collapses are to be feared.
The Marmolada glacier is the largest glacier in the Dolomites, a mountain range in northern Italy that is part of the Alps. Located in the Autonomous Province of Trento, it gives birth to the Avisio River and overlooks Lake Fedaia.
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