• Accidents in the mountains, a Vicenza hiker dies on Terminillo
  • Mountain accidents, four victims between Abruzzo and the Alps

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December 29, 2019

The prosecutor of Bolzano opened a file on the release of an avalanche yesterday in Val Senales which killed a woman and two girls from Germany.

As ANSA learns from investigative sources, photos and videos of the slope have already been acquired. In an initial phase of the investigation it will be necessary to establish whether it was a spontaneous detachment and in this case whether it was in some way foreseeable or if the avalanche was caused by other skiers during an off-piste run. In the next few hours the Bolzano prosecutor will appoint an expert.

The avalanche hit a 150-meter front and several skiers. A sunny day with a clear sky that in Val Senales enticed you to go skiing on the abundant snow that has fallen in recent weeks ended tragically. Shortly after midday, a large avalanche broke off in the Val Senales glacier ski area, overwhelming several skiers on the slope. Three of them, a 25-year-old woman from Hauteroda in Thuringia and two 7-year-old girls lost their lives.

The avalanche poured on the "Teufelsegg" ski slope (the devil's corner) which from the glacier, at over 3000 meters above sea level, leads to the bottom of the valley. The avalanche broke away in the stretch between the so-called Forcella dei contrabbandieri and the Teufelsegg refuge at 3,100 meters above sea level. The victims, a group of German tourists, were on the track when they were hit by avalanche.

The avalanche was large with a width of about 150 meters and a length of about 500 meters. In addition to the three dead - the 25-year-old woman, an officer of the German army originally from Hauteroda, and her 7-year-old daughter, who died at the hospital in Trento after a desperate attempt at resuscitation, and another 7-year-old girl from Eschweiler nearby in Aachen - the avalanche also overwhelmed two other skiers who remained unharmed, but who in a state of hypothermia were hospitalized in the Merano hospital. They are Eschweiler's father and son.

The soldiers of the Alpine Rescue of the Guardia di Finanza intervened in service of slope guarding with a dog unit, the Alpine Rescue, the firefighters of the neighboring countries, the White Cross and four rescue helicopters, the Pelikan 2, L'Aiut Alpin Dolomites, the helicopter of the Aerial Section of the Guardia di Finanza of Bolzano and the rescue helicopter from neighboring Austria.

The avalanche danger in South Tyrol along the border ridge is currently marked, i.e. grade 3 on the scale of 5. The conditions are dangerous due to the strong wind that has been blowing at high altitude for a few days and which causes wind snow accumulations that can part easily undergo a detachment. "Our collaborators assessed the situation early in the morning and there were no dangers. If they had doubts, they certainly would not have opened the descent to the valley," explained Thomas Konstantin Stecher, director of the Val Senales Glacier Cable Car, which does not rule out that the avalanche "was caused by off-piste skiers". Indeed, the exact cause of the avalanche in Val Senales remains to be clarified. Investigations are underway to find out if it was a detachment from natural causes or if it was an imprudent hiker who caused the tragedy.

Two more detachments in South Tyrol
Another avalanche broke off at 11.30 in Punta Cervina in the Sarentino Alps, at 2600 meters above sea level. A hiker was pulled out of his companions by the snowy masses that had overwhelmed him. He was slightly injured and was transported to the Bolzano hospital. A third avalanche broke off at 13 at Col de Riciogogn in the Fanes-Senes-Braies natural park near San Vigilio di Marebbe, but did not overwhelm hikers.