A huge block broke off Sunday from the Marmolada glacier in the northern Italian Alps, causing an avalanche that left at least five people dead and eight injured, emergency services said.
“Unfortunately, five people were found dead,” relief spokeswoman Michela Canova told AFP, also reporting eight injured for this “still provisional assessment”.
Two injured were taken to hospital in Belluno, a more serious one in Treviso, and five in Trento, she said, without giving details of the nationality of the victims. Several helicopters were deployed on the spot to take part in the rescue operations and to monitor the situation.
“An avalanche of snow, ice and rock which in its path hit the access road when there were several roped parties, some of which were swept away,” she explained. “The definitive number of mountaineers involved is not yet known”.
The Marmolada Glacier is the largest glacier in the Dolomites (Alps), located on the northern slope of the Marmolada. It gives birth to the Avisio River and overlooks Lake Fedaia.