Tragedy in the snow of the Norwegian mountains, where a group of five Italians, all from Vicenza, was involved in one of the four avalanches that hit the north of the country.
According to the police, quoted by the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, one of them died, two others were injured including one seriously, while the other two were unharmed. The Farnesina has confirmed that a compatriot died as a result of the avalanche. An accident that occurred on a black day on the Norwegian peaks, with avalanches also recorded in three other areas of the North-Troms region, for a total toll of four dead.
The group of Italians was on the peak The ridge top, a mountain almost 1,300 meters high, a popular destination for hikers. “Five people of foreign origin were hiking in the area. We can confirm that one person has died,” Morten Pettersen of the Troms police said at a press conference.
According to media reports, the rescue operation presented major challenges for rescue teams due to weather conditions. In any case, all were recovered, said the mayor of Lyngen, Dan-Håvard Johnsen, underlining that the seriously injured person was taken to hospital in Troms›.
As regards the other three incidents which took place in Nord-Troms, one took place in the locality of Reinoya, a small island of about 300 inhabitants, where an avalanche hit a farm, dragging it into the sea. A man and a woman were found dead in the water, as well as a hundred head of livestock, and the municipality has evacuated the other residents.
A Large size, in the municipality of Nordreisa, an avalanche involved another group of foreign tourists and one person was found lifeless. “A member of the group identified the victim and alerted the emergency services,” the police explained, without specifying the nationality of the deceased.
A fourth avalanche occurred at Manndalen, in the municipality of Kåfjord, and caused no casualties. Tor Indrevoll, operational director of the Troms Red Cross Relief Corps, spoke of an extremely serious situation in the area. The authorities – he reports Aftenposten – had warned on Thursday of a great risk of avalanches in the region. The police have advised against anyone moving on the mountains in the area, due to the bad weather conditions, and a red alert has been issued for both today and tomorrow in various locations.