Italy Marmolada avalanche tragedy: Glacier collapse leaves seven dead and multiple missing

Rescue helicopters circling the Marmolada for missing hikers (Image via Anne Tootill/Twitter)

In the northern Italian Alps at Marmolada, an avalanche caused by the melting of a glacier has resulted in at least seven fatalities so far. Luca Zaia, the governor of Veneto, a northeastern Italian region that also includes the Marmolada glacier, said,

"I hope the figures stop here."

The identities of four of the seven dead were confirmed by the rescuers. The victims consisted of three Italians, including two mountain guides. One of the Italians was Filippo Bari, 28, who took a photo with the Marmolada glacier in the background just before the tragedy occurred, according to reports.

Eight others were hurt in the disaster, according to emergency personnel, with two of them sustaining critical injuries.

Despite being a skilled mountain hiker, Bari's brother Andrea claimed that his family always warned him to exercise caution in the highlands, especially given the current weather.

Andrea said his brother sent the selfie barely 20 minutes before the avalanche. He also stated that his brother had passed away doing what he loved.

According to rescue personnel, the injured hikers were sent to hospitals in the neighborhood, including two still in severe condition. Two Germans and an unidentified 40-year-old patient were among those who were hospitalized.

A video of the incident shows the ice mass collapsing down the slopes of Marmolada. Speaking about the incident, a spokeswoman for the emergency services, Michela Canova, said:

"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. The definitive number of mountaineers involved is not yet known."

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Marmolada tragedy: Search for missing people continues

As of Monday afternoon, 14 people, including 10 Italians, three Czechs, and one Austrian, were still missing, according to Maurizio Fugatti, another regional leader. Local officials later stated that Austrian consular officials had contacted the Austrian.

Fugatti of the Trentino-Alto Adige Alpine region said:

"We were contacted by families because these people didn't return home."

Due to terrible weather, rescue crews using helicopters and drones halted their search for the other 13 people who are still missing.

Additionally, the terrain is quite dangerous too. It forced the rescue crews to stay off to the side and instead use drones to look for survivors. Two rescuers stayed on-site overnight; by Tuesday morning, more rescuers joined the team.

Four vehicles with unidentified drivers were still in the mountain's parking lot; two had Czech license plates, one had German plates, and the fourth had Hungarian ones.

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Climate change is believed to be the cause of the avalanche

It was not immediately obvious what led to the collapse of the glacier. However, Walter Milan, a spokesman for the rescue team, told reporters that temperatures in the region have been particularly high lately.

Noting that temperatures recently hit 10 degrees Celsius at the glacier's peak, Milan said:

"The heat is unusual. Clearly it's something abnormal."

The glacier fall was partially caused by climate change, as per Prime Minister of Italy Mario Draghi.

Addressing the press, Draghi said:

"This is a tragedy that certainly had an element of the unpredictable but is also without doubt linked to the deterioration of the environment and the climate situation."

He added that the government would take action to prevent a repeat of the disaster.

The Alps' climate is undergoing significant change. It is estimated that temperatures have risen by about 2 degrees Celsius, twice the average global increase. According to estimates, the Alps' glaciers have lost half of their ice volume since 1850, and loss rates have sharply increased since the late 1980s.

Particularly high elevation glaciers like the Marmolada, which often rest on steep slopes and depend on sub-zero temperatures to keep them locked in place, can become unstable as they retreat and pose a threat to the people residing near them.

Paul Christoffersen, a professor of glaciology at the University of Cambridge, claims that catastrophic glacier collapses occur more frequently due to climate change.

Once again, the moving ice of the high Alps demonstrates how climate change affects our environment and poses risks in ways that scientists are still trying to comprehend.