At least five people died when glaciers fell in the mountains in Italy – Latest news – news

July 3, 2022 at 16:58 At least five people died when glaciers loosened in the mountains in Italy At least five people lost their lives when part of a glacier loosened and crashed into a group of mountain climbers in the Italian Alps, according to the emergency services. Eight are injured. “Unfortunately, five people were found lifeless,” spokeswoman Michela Canova told the AFP news agency. The number of eight injured is preliminary, she points out. The Italian public broadcaster RAI later reported that six people have lost their lives, but the number has not yet been confirmed. The accident took place in the mountain Marmolada, the highest in the eastern Dolomites in northern Italy. It is unclear how many are possibly missing. Earlier Sunday, the national mountain rescue corps tweeted that at least five helicopters and rescue dogs participated in searches in the area. The nationalities of the victims are not known. – A landslide with snow, ice and rock hit a path at a time when there were several ropes there, some of which were taken. The total number of climbers involved is not known, says Canova. The emergency services in northeastern Italy tweeted earlier Sunday that around 15 mountaineers are believed to have been in the landslide-affected area. The injured have been taken to several hospitals in the Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto regions, according to rescue services. Marmolada towers 3,343 meters above sea level. The part that came loose from the glacier is called a pinnacle. – A rock that fell caused a glacier crack to open, the emergency services tweeted. The incident took place near Punta Rocca, along the route usually used to reach the top, according to the mountain rescue corps. – We heard a loud crash, typical of a landslide, says an eyewitness to the Italian news agency Ansa. – Then we saw an avalanche of snow and ice crashing towards the valley at high speed, and we knew that something terrible had happened, the eyewitness says. It is unclear what triggered the landslide, but the intense heat wave that has hit Italy since the end of June, may be a factor, says the rescue service’s spokesman Walter Milan to the TV channel RAI. – The heat is unusual, he says and points out that the temperatures in recent days have been up to 10 degrees at the top of the mountain. – It is extreme and obviously abnormal, says Milan. (NTB)



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