The story of the young man who sent a selfie to his family just before the “massacre” of the Italian glacier

Tragedy announced by high temperatures and climate change? Public opinion italian Today she was still in mourning and shocked by what the media defined “the massacre” that occurred on a famous glacier in the Alps, where, in the midst of an unprecedented heat wave, a gigantic block of ice broke off yesterday, burying dozens of hikers. .

Among the dead is Filippo Bari, a 27-year-old from the province of Vincenza, owner of a hardware store and father of a newborn boy, who he had taken a selfie just before the horror. In the photo that he sent to his relatives, he appears with a huge smile, with his helmet and sunglasses, happy for his feat. Then no one heard anything more about him.

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The catastrophe – which left, at the time, seven dead, eight wounded and 13 missing– it happened yesterday shortly after noon in Marmolada, one of the most beautiful and crowded mountains in the Dolomites, an area of ​​the Alps declared a World Heritage Site and a destination for climbers from all over the world, on the border between the Trentino regions and Veneto, in the northeast of the country.

Then, in the shelters near Punta Rocca and Punta Penia, the two most famous peaks of Marmolada, also called “the queen of the Dolomites”, a noise resembling a bomb or a passing jet was heard, according to witnesses. And a block of the glacier broke off in a terrifying avalanche of ice and enormous rocks, with a front of 300 meters that devastated everything in its path over more than two kilometers. It was an ideal day, with temperatures above 10 degrees and there were at least three groups of hikers going up and down the mountain.

“When they called us, at half past one, they told us ‘the mountain fell’. When we climbed to 2,500 meters we found a Dantesque scenario: there were blocks of ice and rock as big as cars everywhere, we started looking for and extracting the first victims”, said Luigi Felicetti, alpine lifeguard.

The “seracco” (serac), that is, the piece of glacier that precipitated, broke off at 3000 meters, 343 meters below the top. As if it were a river, it began to go down at an impressive speed of 300 kilometers per hour. “It was a black wave that was swallowing everythingwhoever was on their way was running trying to save themselves,” said Elena, a survivor.

#Marbletra le vittime Filippo Bari, mountaineer, 27 years old, father of a bimbo piccolo
I was out with a group of friends. He knows well the #mountainif you move safely
The last selfie alla famiglia cousin of the tragedy#4luglio #Trentino #seracco #valanga pic.twitter.com/NP0U5VmNes

— Tv2000.it (@TV2000it) July 4, 2022

While the rescues, with drones and helicopters, continued throughout the night and were only interrupted by a storm, the first victims began to be identified, including three Italians, a citizen of the Czech Republic, plus a couple. Although the balance of deaths was destined to increase. According to the rescuers, who even work with a system that tries to track cell phone signals, even underground, there was little chance of finding people alive.

“It will be hard to recognize the people who ended up in the whirlwind and what happened to their bodies is something that only hurts the pensalro. Because you have to think that this was not snow but sharp ice and rock. So they were tortured”, explained to Corriere della Sera Mauro Mabboni, rescuer with experience of other avalanches and landslides on their backs, but who admitted that he “never” saw anything like it. For the recognition of the corpses, DNA tests may be necessary.

Carlo Budel, owner of the Capanna-Punta Penia shelter, close to the scene of the disaster, did not hesitate to speak of a “tragedy foretold.”

“For days I have heard water running, real torrents, under the glacier: the Marmolada should have been closed after the high temperatures of these weeks,” he denounced, in statements to the newspaper The Messaggero. Budel also highlighted how the drama occurred just on a Sunday and on a day and at a peak time.

The Trento prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for a culpable disaster at the moment against unknown persons, which will be complex given the difficulties in rescuing the disappeared, which must establish whether the weather conditions were risky and possible responsibilities.

In the midst of great national upheaval and right at the beginning of the summer vacation period, the prime minister, Mario Draghi, traveled to Canazei, the locality of the disaster. There he met with relatives of the victims, authorities, learned about what happened and thanked and encouraged those who continue to work against the clock to find the disappeared.

#PreghiamoInsieme per le vittime del crollo sul ghiacciaio della #Marble, e per le parrot famiglie. It was tragic that we were living with the climate change that Devono Springere to urgently close nine Friday to respect the person and the nature.

— Pope Francesco (@Pontifex_it) July 4, 2022

“This is a drama that surely has some unpredictability and surely depends on the deterioration of the environment and the weather situation”Draghi acknowledged. “Today Italy mourns its victims and Italians sympathize with affection. The government must reflect on what happened and must take measures so that what happened has a minimal probability of happening or can even be avoided, ”he added, with a grim face.

“Let us pray for the victims of the collapse of the glacier and for their families,” Pope Francis asked in a tweet written in Italian, in which he stressed that “the tragedies we are experiencing with climate change should push us to urgently seek new paths respectful of people and nature”.

Fires in Rome

Meanwhile, for the second time in a few days, the explosive combination of drought and high temperatures -above 38 degrees-, unleashed a large fire in the northern part of this capital. The flames, which began in the park called Pineta Sacchetti, damaged two sports centers and created terror among the residents of the Balduina neighborhood. Already last week, other fires in vacant lots on the eastern outskirts had created a great alert and, due to the wind, a rain of ashes and black smoke even reached the historic center of the eternal city, in images of the most apocalyptic and a reflection of the same terrifying climate change that caused the “massacre” of the glacier.

Anchor a #fire a #Romein zone #pinetasacchetti. It is not possible to confine the forest fire problem to a mere emergency management policy. I upload a technical tab for metter in prevention in the capital to serve an immediate response #vigilidelfuoco pic.twitter.com/ONYvF43a6E

– Fernando Cordella (@cordella_f) July 4, 2022

By Elisabetta Pique

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.