Alpine avalanche leaves at least 7 dead, 14 missing
CANAZEI, ITALY >> Thunderstorms hampered Monday the search for more than a dozen hikers who remained unaccounted for a day after a huge chunk of an Alpine glacier in Italy broke off, sending an avalanche of ice, snow and rocks down the slope. Officials put the known death toll at seven.
“I hope the numbers stop here,” said Veneto Gov. Luca Zaia, whose region in northeast Italy borders the Dolomite mountain range including the Marmolada glacier. He spoke in the resort town of Canazei, where a morgue was set up in the ice rink.
Another regional leader, Maurizio Fugatti, said 14 people remained unaccounted for by Monday afternoon: 10 Italians, three from the Czech Republic and one from Austria. Local officials later said that Austrian consular officials had made contact with the Austrian.
“We were contacted by families because these people didn't return home,'” said Fugatti of the Trentino-Alto Adige Alpine region.
In the mountain's parking lot, four cars remained whose occupants hadn't been traced — two cars had license plates from Czech Republic, one vehicle was from Germany and the fourth was from Hungary.
At least three of the dead were Italians, authorities said. Italian news reports said one of the deceased was from the Czech Republic.
One of the Italians was Filippo Bari, 28, who snapped a selfie with the Marmolada glacier in the background only minutes before the avalanche, his brother, Andrea, told state TV in Canazei where he came to identify the body.
Although an expert mountain hiker, his brother said his family always told him to be careful in the mountains, “above all in these temperatures.” He said the selfie was sent only 20 minutes before the avalanche and that his brother, who had a partner and a 4-year-old son, was smiling. “He passed away doing what he loved.”
On Sunday, officials said nine people were injured, but on Monday told reporters in Canazei that eight were injured, including two in grave condition.
Zaia said the hospitalized included two Germans and a 40-year-old patient yet to be identified.
The avalanche came roaring down when dozens of hikers were on excursions, including some of them roped together.
Looking grim after meeting with families of some of the dead, Italian Premier Mario Draghi, demanded that action be taken so such a tragedy doesn't happen again.
The detached portion of glacier was massive, estimated at 200 meters wide, 80 meters tall and 60 meters deep. Zaia likened the avalanche to an “apartment building (sized) block of ice with debris and Cyclopean masses of rock.”
What exactly caused a pinnacle of the glacier to break off and thunder down the slope at a speed estimated by experts at around 200 mph, wasn't immediately known.
But high temperatures were widely cited as a factor.