An avalanche struck high in the Italian Alps on Saturday, killing six skiers and injuring another as a swath of snow hundreds of meters wide cascaded down.
Helicopters ferried survivors and the bodies back to the valley floor from the avalanche site, located not far below Monte Nevoso’s peak. The mountain is close to the Austrian border in Italy’s Alto Adige region.
The dead were among a group of backcountry skiers climbing above the tree line to the mountain crest and then skiing down.
The victims included five Italian nationals, one of whom was 16, and an Austrian woman. They were among a group of 15 people who were very close to the summit of Monte Nevosowhen the avalanche hit in the late morning. The others escaped unharmed, despite earlier reports that several had been injured.
“Some were partly covered or under the snow and able to free themselves and some clearly just saw it happen,” said police officer Albert Castlunger.
The survivors summoned rescuers, who sent three helicopters and dozens of search-and-rescue workers who used poles and sniffer dogs to probe the snow for more possible victims. The operation ended by late afternoon.
The high altitude and the number of people involved complicated the rescue, Rafael Kostner, the head of the rescue operation, told the news agency Ansa. “The helicopters are having difficulty safely reaching altitudes above 3,000 metres,” Kostner said. “They fly with very little fuel and all unnecessary gear is left on the ground.”
According to Bolzano province’s avalanche report, the avalanche risk forecast for Saturday was moderate, a two on a 1-to-5 scale.
Monte Nevoso, in the Aurina valley in the south Tyrol region in Italy’s north-east, reaches a height of 3,358 metres. Conditions were sunny and windy after heavy snowfall in recent weeks, a local police official said. It is unknown what caused the avalanche.
The avalanche risk in the Italian Alps this weekend had been assessed to be three out of five – where five indicates a strong risk, Italian media reported.
