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Six people died and eight others were injured after the largest glacier in the Italian Alps collapsed and hit a group of climbers who were at the site, the authorities attribute the collapse to the increase in temperatures that have affected the area for a long time. several years and have been intensifying over time.
The avalanche crossed the route that is used to reach the summit of the Marmolada mountain, the highest in the Italian Dolomites mountain range in the eastern Alps, said the spokeswoman for the emergency services, Michela Canova.
“An avalanche of snow, ice and rocks hit an access road at a time when there were several groups, some of which were swept away,” Canova said.
The official said that, although they have confirmed the death of six people “the total number of climbers involved is still unknown” and that the figures could increase because the missing are 10, she also pointed out that the injured are in hospitals in Belluno, Treviso and Trent.
For the rescue operations, the authorities deployed all available teams of climbers, sniffer dogs, a helicopter and a team of psychologists to support the relatives.
Likewise, the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps has specifically made one of its telephone lines available to attend to those who have a relative or friend who is missing after the day on Sunday.
#RTthank you: +39 0461 495272 is the number of chiamare per segnalare il mancato rientro de amicici e familiari da possibili escursioni during the odierna sul ghiacciaio della giornata #Marble. Do not use the number to find general information. pic.twitter.com/cTCiPRTJf5
— Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico (@cnsas_official) July 3, 2022
Alert before new landslides
The temperature record that reached 10 ° C presented in recent days is one of the reasons that experts attribute the detachment of the ice.
Glacier specialist Renato Colucci warned that this phenomenon is expected to repeat itself because “for weeks the temperatures in the Alps have been well above normal values” detailing that this Saturday’s collapse was generated after the ice melted inside the glacier, accumulating the water at the bottom, and then collapsing.
Given the situation, the hikers who visited the place have been evacuated, both 18 people who were at the top of Punta Rocca and those who were at the lowest point who lamented the global warming situation that they say is increasingly worrying.
“The landslides have always existed, but in the sixties the danger of it happening was much less. Unfortunately, the mountain also suffers from pollution from big cities”, said mountaineer Reinhold Messner.
The National Research Council (CNR) of Italy, revealed after a study carried out jointly with the Institute of Marine Sciences of the CNR and several universities, that it is estimated that the glacier commonly called “the queen of the Dolomites” will disappear in approximately 25 or 30 years if the temperature continues to rise.
The text explains that between 2004 and 2015 the glacier has lost 30% of its volume and 22% of its extension, a situation that has been occurring in a similar way in other Italian mountains such as the Planpincieux glacier, in the Mont Blanc peak of the Alps and in the adjoining mountain ranges such as the Seracco Whymper or the Gran Croux.
