These are three Italians and one Czech. A man and a woman have yet to be identified. The 20 missing also include German and Romanian nationals, the rescue units said. The identification could take longer, an autopsy could be necessary. The number of victims of the Marmolada tragedy is likely to increase. The bodies recovered after the glacier collapsed were fragmented with ice, rocks and debris, making it difficult to determine the exact death toll. For this reason, DNA tests are scheduled for Monday: the genetic data will be compared with those of family members and relatives.
16 vehicle owners not yet reached
Controls on the roads of the Fedaia Pass and in the parking lots around the Fedaia Lake, from where the hiking trails to the Marmolada start, revealed that the owners of 16 vehicles could not yet be reached. Thus, the carabinieri and the rescuers try to identify the missing climbers by comparing the number plates with the bookings of the accommodations in the area.
“Have little hope of finding anyone alive”
“At the moment we don’t know if the cars belong to the six dead or the missing. We will find out today from the reports that will reach us,” said Trentino President Maurizio Fugatti. Checks are also carried out on the side of the mountain in the province of Belluno, since people may have climbed from this slope as well. “We have little hope of finding the missing person alive,” admitted Trentino Civil Protection Director Raffaele De Col.
Drone search continued
The search and rescue work on the Marmolada was interrupted on Sunday evening because there was a risk that more blocks of ice could go off. The entire area around the glacier has been closed to the public. The search for the missing continued with drones. Prime Minister Mario Draghi expressed his condolences to the victims and their families and was kept informed of the rescue efforts and the investigation.
The mass detached from the Marmolada glacier fell at least 500 meters at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour on two roped teams of mountaineers, Alpine rescue experts reported. The detached mass extends over a two-kilometer front at an elevation of about 2,800 meters.
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Temperature record on Saturday
Experts suspect that the high temperatures of the past few weeks could be responsible for the accident. On Saturday, a temperature record of ten degrees was measured at the summit of the Marmolada, the average temperature in recent years was around seven. The Marmolada Glacier is the largest in the Dolomites and is located on the north side of the Marmolada Group. This is in the provinces of Trento and Belluno.
Source: Nachrichten
