At least six died on the Marmolada, where a large block of ice broke away and collapsed, overwhelming two groups of climbers.
It happened near Punta Rocca, in the Belluno area , along the ascent route of the normal route to reach the summit. All the mountain rescue stations in the area were activated, five helicopters and dog units on the spot.
There are also several injured and 15 missing, but for the rescuers it is "unlikely that there are survivors". " An unimaginable disaster - say the investigators - such a carnage that it will only be difficult for us to identify the exact identity of the victims because the bodies were dismembered" by the flow of ice and stones.
" We heard a loud noise, a roar , typical of a landslide, then we saw a kind of avalanche composed of snow and ice descending at high speed and from there I realized that something serious had happened - he told Ansa one of the managers of the Castiglioni Marmolada Refuge -. I immediately ran to call for help ".
The Trento prosecutor's office has opened a dossier for culpable disaster , currently against unknown persons, while the Prime Minister Mario Draghi “expresses his deepest condolences for the victims of the terrible collapse on the Marmolada. The Government is close to their families and to all the injured "and, says Palazzo Chigi, is" constantly informed on the progress of relief by the Head of the Civil Protection Department, Fabrizio Curcio, by the President of the Autonomous Province of Trento Maurizio Fugatti, by mountain rescue, from the fire brigade, from the local authorities, whom he thanks for their tireless work ".
10 DEGREES AT THE TOP - Yesterday the record temperature of 10 degrees was reached on the summit of the mountain group. A climatic and atmospheric condition of total disequilibrium: there is also this, according to experts, behind the collapse.
For days "the temperatures at high altitudes have been much above normal values - says Renato Colucci, of the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council (Cnr-Isp) - while last winter there was little snow, which by now almost no longer protects the glacial basins ".
Charon and his extreme heat trail have "likely produced a large amount of melt liquid water at the base of that piece of glacier." A mix of elements that lined up can lead to extreme events . "We are in the worst conditions for postings of this type", adds the CNR. A picture of "total disequilibrium" which could lead, in the next few years, to the repetition of dramatic phenomena such as today.
(Unioneonline / D)