Father and daughter among five dead in Italy avalanche

Rome: Five German mountaineers have died after being hit by an avalanche in South Tyrol, in northern Italy, rescuers say, including a man and his 17-year-old daughter.

Three victims – two men and a woman – had already been recovered dead on Saturday, while the father and daughter were found on Sunday morning (Italian time).

The mountaineers were hit by the avalanche about 4pm on Saturday (2am on Sunday AEDT) while climbing near the Cima Vertana in the Ortles mountains, at an altitude of more than 3500 metres. It is unknown why the climbers were still on their way up at this relatively late hour, rescuers said.

“They had been dragged to the lower part of the gully where the avalanche occurred,” said Alpine rescue spokesman Federico Catania. “Rescue teams are now returning to the valley, also considering the worsening weather conditions at high altitude.”

Olaf Reinstadler, a spokesperson for the Sulden Mountain Rescue Service, told German media that the avalanche could have been triggered by recent snow that had not bonded to the underlying ice.

The three other bodies were found lying under a metre of snow in a crevasse, Reinstadler told Germany’s Bild newspaper, which said they were those of a 21-year-old woman, a 21-year-old man and a 58-year-old man.

According to initial information, the climbers were in three groups and were travelling independently of each other. Two men survived the accident and were taken by helicopter to a hospital in the nearby city of Bolzano.

Reinstadler, who told Bild that he had climbed the peak also known as Vertainspitze several times, said the avalanche was unpredictable.

“Only true experts could have recognised the danger. The weather was good, and the deceased climbers all had good equipment,” he said

South Tyrol is a popular region for mountaineering among tourists from Germany. The region’s highest peak is Ortles, which rises to 3905 metres.

Avalanches are a persistent issue in the Italian Alps, with the country registering one of the highest 10-year average annual death tolls among major ski nations. Victims are frequently ski mountaineers or freeriders.

Some analysis suggests that the number of accidents has increased in recent years, possibly due to more people heading to more isolated areas immediately after fresh snowfall.

AP

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