A rescue helicopter hovers over the Punta Rocca glacier in Canazei, in the Italian Alps, in northern Italy, on Monday, a day after a significant portion of the glacier broke off and dumped ice, snow, and rocks on hikers.
After a significant piece of an Italian Alpine glacier broke off, causing a rock, ice, and snow avalanche, more than a dozen hikers were still unaccounted for as of Monday. It was challenging to locate the hikers because of the storms. Authorities said they are presently aware of seven deaths.
I hope the numbers end here, said Veneto’s governor Luca Zaia, whose region in northeastern Italy borders the Dolomite mountain range, which contains the Marmolada glacier. He spoke in a morgue that had been transformed from an ice rink in Canazei, a popular tourist site.
A separate regional authority, Maurizio Fugatti, said that as of Monday afternoon, 14 people—10 Italians, 3 Czechs, and 1 Austrian—were still unaccounted for. According to Fugatti of the Trentino-Alto Adige Alpine region, when these people failed to show up at their houses, families notified us. In the parking lot of the mountain, there were still four automobiles with unidentifiable persons inside; two of them had Czech licence plates, one had German ones, and the fourth had Hungarian ones.
Fugatti raised the possibility that some individuals’ families would not be aware of their location since they might be on vacation and only check in with them at the end of their trip.
At least three of the victims, according to the authorities, were Italians. According to Italian news reports, one of the victims was from Czechia, which is more frequently referred to as the Czech Republic in English.
In a news conference held on Monday in the resort town of Canazei, officials revealed that eight people had been injured, including two who were hospitalised in what they described as “delicate, grave condition.” On Sunday, authorities claimed that nine people had been damaged.
Two Germans and a patient in his or her 40s who has not been named were among the hospitalised, according to Zaia.
When the avalanche started tumbling down, several hikers, some of whom were roped together, were on trips.
Mario Draghi, the Italian prime, spoke with some of the deceased’s family before standing behind the authorities and expressing “the most sincere, warm, emotional connection” to the families.
According to Zaia, the hospitalised included a patient in his or her 40s who has not been identified and two Germans.
Several trekkers, some of whom were roped together, were on treks when the avalanche began to fall.
Before standing behind the authorities and expressing “the most honest, warm, emotional connection” to the families, Mario Draghi, the Italian prime minister, talked with some of the deceased’s family members.
Looking sombre, he demanded that steps be taken to guarantee that such a calamity never happened again. Draghi reiterated the views of other scientists who warned it was hard to forecast when a glacier may break apart and create an avalanche, saying “This is a drama that certainly has some unpredictability.”
But what happened? It “certainly depends on environmental deterioration and the climate condition,” the premier said.
The government-run CNR research institute’s scientists believe the Marmolada glacier may disappear within the next 25 to 30 years as a result of its recent thinning. Draghi said, “Today, Italy gathers close” the afflicted families. “The government must take into account what happened and act to guarantee that what happens has the very little possibility, if any, of happening again.”
The divided portion of the glacier was immense, more than 200 yards (yards) wide, 80 metres high, and 60 metres deep. “A block of ice the size of an apartment building with debris and Cyclopean masses of rock,” Zaia compared the avalanche.
I am unable to say anything more since the facts demonstrate that these conditions are not favoured by the high temperatures, Zaia told reporters. According to Alpine rescuers, the temperature at the glacier’s height last week topped 10 C (50 F), when it should have been around freezing at this time of year. Italy has been having a heat wave for many weeks.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused a glacier pinnacle to fracture and fall down the slope at a pace that experts estimated to be over 300 kph (almost 200 mph).
However, it has been widely stated that it will be quite hot.
The extended heat wave that lasted from May through June was the warmest in northern Italy during that period in over 20 years, according to Jacopo Gabrieli, a polar sciences researcher at Italy’s government-run CNR research centre.
In an interview that was shown on Italian state television on Monday, Gabrieli stated that it was unquestionably an abnormality. He concurred with other experts that it would have been difficult to forecast when the Sunday serac, a pinnacle from a glacier’s overhang, would break off.
Pope Francis tweeted a plea for prayers for the avalanche victims and their families, placing a high priority on environmental preservation during his papacy.
Francis said, “Given the tragedies that we are experiencing as a result of climate change, we must urgently search for alternative measures that are respectful to persons and the environment.”
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