Glacier fall on the Marmolada: Survivor tells of dramatic moments - "The mountain rained on us"

Created: 07/07/2022 05:01

By: Patrick Mayer

At least seven people are killed in the avalanche accident on the Marmolada.

A surviving mountaineer describes the seconds when the glacier broke in the Dolomites.

Munich/Bozen – The avalanche accident in the Dolomites after a glacier fracture on the Marmolada put northern Italy in shock.

And that while all of Italy is struggling with a historic dryness and drought that has now led to a state of emergency in the regions of Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

The Marmolada is located in the Italian Alps pretty much on the border between Veneto and South Tyrol.

Here, not far from the city of Bolzano (around 110,000 inhabitants) on the Brenner Pass, a fatal glacier fall occurred on Sunday (3 July).

A huge piece of the glacier broke off after record temperatures in the area, masses of debris, ice and snow buried at least two rope teams of alpinists.

Glacier fall on the Marmolada: avalanche accident in the Dolomites shocked Italy

A spokesman for the Italian mountain rescue service told the

that it was initially unclear whether, in addition to the rope teams, there were individual mountaineers at the scene of the accident.

The authorities are trying to find out feverishly.

Mountain rescuers from the Veneto and Trentino-South Tyrol regions were alerted and rushed to the scene of the accident.

According to various reports, this should continue to be unstable, which makes rescue and recovery work more difficult.

This Tuesday (July 5th) rescue workers flew over the area with drones so as not to endanger their own mountain rescue workers during the operation.

Glacier break on the Marmolada: Young engineer survived a scree avalanche in the Dolomites

Meanwhile, a survivor described the dramatic moments of the glacier break in the Dolomites.

Riccardo Franchin, 27, an engineer from Barbarano Mossano in the province of Vicenza, survived the accident with liver trauma and severe bruises on his face, arms and legs.

The young man is being treated at the Santa Chiara Hospital in Trento.

As the Italian newspaper

writes, several of his mountaineer friends are still missing.

"I felt a strange noise and instinctively lifted my head to see what was happening above me," Franchin told

newspaper .

He ran away as fast as he could.

"The mountain rained on us and I tried to escape," he said.

Glacier fall on the Marmolada: This is where the accident happened in the Dolomites.

© dpa

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Avalanche accident in the Dolomites: the search for missing people on the Marmolada continues

It all happened so suddenly "that I didn't even have time to feel pain," said Franchin

.

And that he lost consciousness.

When he woke up, "I found myself on my feet and looking around.

Nothing.

I haven't seen anyone else," he told the newspaper.

At least seven people lost their lives in the accident in Italy, eight climbers were injured, some seriously - including two Germans.

Meanwhile, the search for five more missing people continued under high pressure on Tuesday.

The risk is great for the mountain rescuers.

According to TV broadcaster Rai, a vertical and unstable block has formed on the mountainside, which could also break down.

Nevertheless, the rescue workers do not give up hope of finding more survivors.