Rockfall in the Vinschgau Valley - car with four people spared © FF Latsch
The storms in Italy continue to cause mudslides and rockfalls: In the middle of the night on Sunday, several rocks thundered onto a main road in the South Tyrolean Vinschgau Valley. Motorists were incredibly lucky.
Update from May 23, 11:35 a.m.: The accident site has been cleared, the rocks are being removed and removed with compressed air excavators. In addition, the driver of the Fiat, a carabiniere from Silandro, spoke up in a video. In an interview with stol.it, he reports: "We are doing well after hitting the rocks. We survived the accident unscathed. We were on our way from Bolzano to Silandro when the rock suddenly stood on the road. I tried to dodge and prevent the violent impact. We car occupants are doing well."
The policeman who drove the Fiat and rammed the rock. © stol.it screenshot
First reported on May 21, 2023: Laces - After months of drought, it is raining non-stop all over Italy. Also in South Tyrol. There, the rain has washed several tons of rocks out of a steep slope near Laces. The huge boulders thundered onto the main road (SS 38) through the Vinschgau Valley. This road leads from the Reschen Pass (border with Austria) to Merano and on to Bolzano and is a popular alternative for holidaymakers who want to avoid the Brenner Pass on their way to Italy.
South Tyrolean road is very popular with holidaymakers
On Sunday night, around 4 a.m., the rock avalanche broke loose about 50 meters on the northern rocky slope of the valley. The chunks thundered through the forest, mowing down dozens of trees before rushing along an agricultural road and through an apple orchard.
Rockfall: Motorist on the Reschen Pass road has 1"000 guardian angels" © FF Laces
The mightiest boulder - the size of a garage - then crashed into the middle of the roadway. Another large boulder remained at the edge of the road, other small rocks spread on the slope above, in the plantation and on the slope further up. A truck driver was able to brake in time and stopped.
South Tyrol: After storms in Italy, boulders thunder in the middle of the road
Then came a Fiat 500 with four occupants from the direction of Merano. "The driver overtook the truck and then wanted to drive between the rocks," Werner Linser, commander of the Latscher fire brigade, told our editorial team. "The car then got stuck on the side of the road in a hole caused by the rockfall."
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Aerial view of the rockfall in the Vinschgau © Valley FF Latsch
The four occupants quickly got out and got to safety. It could not be ruled out that more rocks would thunder onto the road. "In any case, the occupants were very lucky," Linser continued. "A few moments earlier, and the rock could have hit the car fully." Not the first landslide in South Tyrol in recent weeks. One rock thundered down to the terrace of a kindergarten, another rushed into the road in the Ahrntal Valley shortly after cars had passed the site, as a video shows.
Bitter for South Tyrolean travelers: Road from the Reschen Pass to Merano closed for the time being
The busy main road through the Vinschgau Valley is now closed for the time being, traffic is routed through the village of Laces on the other bank of the Adige. "We have to remove the rocks and then the slope above has to be examined and secured, which will definitely take until Pentecost," Linser reports.
Holidaymakers should therefore find out whether the road is free again if they want to drive over the Reschen Pass to Merano and beyond. The town of Latsch is likely to be a bottleneck for traffic for the time being. Already on Sunday there were traffic jams. What else holidaymakers should know in view of the storms, you can read here. In the meantime, even the Foreign Office has issued a travel advice for Italy.