5 Dead in Avalanche, Including Father-Daughter Duo
Five people were killed, including a father and daughter climbing duo, during a weekend avalanche in the Italian Alps. The incident occurred near Cima Vertana, one of the tallest peaks in Eastern Italy and part of the Ortler Alps.
Three climbers who suffered fatalities were recovered by volunteers on the day of the avalanche -- Saturday, November 1. Rescuers from Italy's Corps Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico claim that this group of climbers consisted of two men and a woman.
"The first group, consisting of three people, was completely buried," the organization shared. Personal information about the identities of the deceased remain unknown, but it was reported that all five people who passed away were from the state of Bavaria in Germany.
Due to nightfall and harsh conditions, rescuers were unable to find the second group of climbers until the next day. These two, consisting of a German father and his 17-year-old daughter, were found deceased in a gully on Sunday. Teams of human and canine rescuers were airlifted into the mountains the following day to continue the search for missing climbers.
The avalanche was reported by two survivors, a group of men in their 50s hiking together and happened to be at a higher altitude than where the snowfall started. They saw the avalanche from a distance and alerted emergency personnel before being taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Bolzano.
While avalanche season in the Alps typically begins in November, this was admittedly an early-season incident that took place during ideal climbing conditions. Head of the Sulden Mountain Rescue, Olaf Reinsadler, shared that the probable cause that triggered this avalanche was a small wind-drifted snowpack.