The provisional toll of the victims of the collapse of a huge serac on the Marmolada is six dead, 8 injured, one of which seriously and a dozen missing. This was announced by Ansa by Gianpaolo Bottacin, Veneto regional councilor for civil protection.
The detachment of the serac from the Marmolada glacier took place in the early afternoon. According to what is learned from sources of the rescuers, the bodies were extracted from the mass of ice but not yet recovered and taken downstream. The hikers were probably divided into two groups. Rescuers are working with helicopters and dog units to rescue other people. The injured were hospitalized in several hospitals, in Belluno, Treviso, Trento and Bolzano. Just yesterday on the Marmolada the temperature record was reached (about 10 degrees at the top).
Groups of unharmed people brought downstream
A part of the cap of the summit glacier of Punta Rocca collapsed on the Marmolada: an avalanche of ice, snow and rock that swept away those who were along the ascent route of the normal route to reach the summit. Until now, the helicopters have brought Alpine Rescue personnel and canine units from all over Trentino up to the altitude to clear up the avalanche. The situation is dangerous because there is a risk of further collapses. A helicopter was equipped with the Recco bell, an equipment that allows you to search for anyone in difficulty in open areas. Some groups of unharmed people were accompanied downstream by rescuers.
The tweet of the fire brigade
«Marmolada at an altitude of 3500 meters: avalanche detached from a ridge, operations are underway to search for any people involved. Fire brigade personnel transported National body trained for snow and ice operations ». So the firefighters in a tweet.
A witness: a roar then an avalanche of snow and ice
«We heard a loud noise, 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. With binoculars from here you can see the breaking of the serac, it is likely that something is still coming off ». This was stated by Ansa, one of the managers of the Castiglioni Marmolada Refuge, who witnessed the collapse of the serac.
Difficult rescue due to the risk of other detachments
Operations on the Marmolada are proceeding with difficulty as it is necessary to secure the area for further detachments. In the search for the missing, it was explained, the Recco system is used which is based on the use of harmonic radar. It consists of an electronic device called a detector that transmits a signal and a reflective plate that can be inserted inside clothing, boots and mountain backpacks. This type of equipment is currently supplied to the search teams of the Alpine Rescue, each of which has a detector (R9) which is used to search for avalanche victims in all those situations where the people overwhelmed are without Artva equipment (the transceiver worn by ski mountaineers for self-rescue and the search for victims of avalanches). The Recco detector was also made in a larger and more powerful form as a sort of bell that can be hooked under the helicopter and perceive signals up to two hundred meters away / altitude to search for people missing in all inaccessible and alpine environments. generally.