“I heard a noise, I lifted my head and saw the mountain fall on us”

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Five people are still missing from the avalanche caused by the loosening of a glacier in the Italian Alps on Sunday, which left seven dead

Only five people, all of Italian nationality, are missing as a result of the avalanche caused last Sunday by the loosening of a massive ice mass from the Marmolada glacier, in the eastern Italian Alps. The avalanche left 7 dead and 8 injured, one of whom was fired on Tuesday. While it was initially feared that the number of missing persons would be higher, authorities managed to locate several people who were initially mistakenly on the list of missing mountaineers in recent hours.

One of the lucky few to survive the avalanche is Riccardo Franchin, a 27-year-old Italian engineer who, along with three other people who are still missing, climbed the Marmolada Glacier. “I heard a noise and lifted my head. I saw the mountain fall on us and started running as fast as I could. In a very short time I was overwhelmed by the avalanche and lost consciousness,” Riccardo told his father, Mario Franchin, from a hospital in Trento where he was admitted, who later passed on his testimony to “Corriere della Sera”. young man explained that the arrival of the mass of ice, snow and rocks was so sudden that he didn’t even have time to feel pain before passing out.

When he awoke from a time of emptiness that he doesn’t know if it lasted a few seconds or a few minutes, Riccardo began to realize what had happened. He was confused, but managed to get up and look around, finding no trace of his companions. “I haven’t seen anyone,” he told his father. It was then that he decided to go to a shelter, where he saw another mountaineer who gave him first aid. In addition to scratches on his face, arms and legs, he has a trauma to his liver that he will be able to overcome without consequences.

The doctors believe that Riccardo was miraculously saved and the father cannot explain how his son is still alive. Despite the joy, he assures that the two are very concerned about the other three people who were with him. Among them is a friend and neighbor of Riccardo. “We were really worried about everyone up there,” Mario said, hoping other hikers would be just as lucky as his son.

While rescuers believe it is highly unlikely that more survivors will be located, rescue efforts are continuing and this Tuesday, drones found some clothing and mountain equipment in the area where the avalanche occurred. “Some can’t even identify with part of the body,” admitted Maurizio Dellantonio, president of Socorro Alpino, the body leading the searches. “The most important thing is to give the relatives certainty about what has been found,” he added, asking for time to recover and study the materials found.

Despite the danger of further detachment from the glacier, groups of hikers planning to climb the Marmolada keep coming. There are also curious onlookers who want to see with their own eyes and as close as possible the place where the tragedy took place. Given this situation, the mayor of Canazei, Giovanni Bernard, the city from which the rescue operations are led and located at the foot of the mountain, decided to close the accesses to Marmolada for security reasons.

“There is still a risk of the remaining ice block breaking off. We take this aspect into account in all activities we do,” Delantonio confirmed, recalling that experts are “very concerned” about the existing fractures in the part of the glacier that has not broken down. “We have a duty to ensure everyone’s safety. guarantee,” recalls Alpine Relief’s ‘number one’.

The president of the republic, Sergio Mattarella, also called for maximum attention, given what happened in the Marmolada “a symbolic element of what climate change brings about if left unregulated”. For this reason, he invited all countries to take seriously the challenge of global warming, especially those that are “under no obligation” to tackle the problem.

Source: La Verdad

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