Rescuers warned Monday that hopes of finding survivors were waning after an avalanche caused by the collapse of an Italian glacier during a heat wave killed at least seven people.
Authorities said they did not know how many climbers were hit when the glacier gave way on Sunday to the Marmolada, the highest mountain in the Italian Dolomites. Its collapse caused ice and rock to thunder down the slope at 185 miles per hour, according to the head of the province of Trento, Maurizio Fugatti.
On Monday, lifeguards armed with thermal drones searched for the body heat of potential survivors trapped in the ice. But the chances of finding additional survivors now “are slim to nothing,” because it has probably been too long since the deadly avalanche occurred, Alpine Rescue Service regional head Giorgio Gajer said in comments to the agency of AGI news.
Lifeguard Gino Comelli, who spoke to the point of sale after six bodies were recovered from the mountain, said the finds were “shattered” as a result of the tragedy.
The death toll rose as search and rescue missions advanced into the Marmolada on Monday. Fugatti confirmed seven fatalities in the late afternoon, according to the AGI, while eight people were injured and at least 14 remained missing. Two of the injured hikers were found in critical condition, and only three of the dead could be identified immediately. It was still unclear how many people were trapped in the avalanche, as reports of missing people continued to arrive throughout the day.
The disaster occurred a day after a record temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded at the top of the glacier, which is the largest in the Italian Alps.
According to experts, the glacier had weakened by decades of global warming.
Alpine Rescue spokeswoman Michela Canova told AFP that an “avalanche of snow, ice and rock” hit an access road at a time when there were several parties with ropes, “some of the which were dragged “.
Marmolada of Italy. Giovanni Mereghetti / UCG / Universal Images Group through Getty Images
A spokesman for Trento province said the disappearance of people is still being reported.
Trento chief prosecutor Sandro Raimondi was quoted as saying by the Corriere della Sera saying he feared the death toll “could double if not triple”, according to the number of cars left unattended in a car park near the mountain .
But Canova called for caution, saying the total number of climbers involved “is not yet known.” At that time, it had been reported that eight people had been recovered with injuries.
The bodies removed from the ice and rock were moved to the village of Canazei, where Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi traveled on Monday to talk about the avalanche. Helicopters and sniffer dogs were canceled as night fell and amid fears that the glacier was still unstable.
“It is difficult for lifeguards in a dangerous situation,” Canazei Mayor Giovanni Bernard told AFP.
Images of the avalanche filmed from a nearby refuge show snow and rock climbing the slopes of the mountain.
“It’s a miracle that we’re alive,” Stefano Dal Moro, an engineer who was hiking with his Israeli partner in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, said. “There was a muffled noise, then that sea of ice came down. It’s useless to run, you can only pray that it doesn’t come to you. We crouched down and hugged each other tightly as the ice passed.”
Massimo Frezzotti, a professor of science at Roma Tre University, told AFP that the collapse was caused by an unusually warm climate related to global warming, with rainfall falling by 40 to 50. % during a dry winter.
“Current glacier conditions correspond to mid-August, not early July,” he said.
Glacier specialist Renato Colucci told the AGI that the phenomenon “was forced to repeat itself” because “for weeks now altitude temperatures in the Alps have been well above normal values.”
Recent warm temperatures had produced a large amount of water from the melting glacier that accumulated at the bottom of the ice block and caused it to collapse, he added.
The Trento prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation to determine the causes of the tragedy.
The IPCC has said that glaciers in Scandinavia, Central Europe and the Caucasus could lose between 60 and 80% of their mass by the end of the century.