An avalanche caused by the collapse of the largest glacier in the Italian Alps killed at least six people and injured eight others this Sunday, said a spokeswoman for the emergency services.
The glacier collapsed on the Marmolada mountain, the highest of the Italian Dolomites, near the village of Punta Rocca, on the route normally followed to reach its summit.
The disaster occurred one day after a record temperature of 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) at the top of the glacier.
“An avalanche of snow, ice and rocks hit a road of access at a time when there were several groups of ropes, some of which were dragged,” spokeswoman for the emergency services, Michela Canova, told AFP.
Six people had been confirmed dead and eight were injured, he added.
Survivor search stopped later on Sunday, but will resume early on Monday.
Massimo Frezzotti, a science professor at Roma Tre University, said the collapse was caused by unusually hot weather linked to global warming, with a decrease in rainfall from 40 to 50 percent during a dry winter.
“Current glacier conditions correspond to mid-August, not early July,” he said.
Two of the injured were transferred to the Belluno hospital, another in a more serious condition was transferred to Treviso and five to Trento.
“The total number of climbers involved is not yet known,” said Canova.
He did not specify the nationalities of the victims, but the Italian media reported that among them there were foreign citizens.
Helicopters were sent to participate in the initial rescue operation and monitor the situation from the air.
The rescue teams in the nearby Veneto region of northeastern Italy said they had deployed all their alpine equipment, including sniffer dogs.
The Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, expressed his “sincere condolences” to the victims and their families on Twitter.
The mountain rescue team published images showing rescuers and helicopters on the scene to take the victims from the valley to the town of Canazei.
Your task was done more difficult because the bodies were trapped under a layer of ice and rock.
A team of psychologists was available to support the families of the victims. The Trento prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation to determine the causes of the tragedy.
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