At least six people were killed today as an avalanche in the Italian Alps threw glacier slabs in their direction.
The accident at Punta Rocca on the Dolomite peak Marmolada, northeastern Italy, also injured ten other persons.
As officials indicate there is a potential of additional collapses, all hikers are being hurried off the mountain.
According to Alpine Rescue, about 15 persons were hit by the falling ice.
The mountain reached an all-time high temperature of 10 degrees on Saturday.
Alpine Rescue spokesperson Walter Milan told state television that the extreme heat wave that has been sweltering Italy since late June would possibly play a role.
The region was searched for survivors using five aircraft and dog units, according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
We heard a pretty tremendous bang, and then we saw the snow and ice avalanche, one eyewitness told the newspaper.
The mountain rescue team has been called in.
The ice there is nearly completely gone; there is none, said traveler Reinhold Messner.
“These seracs fall naturally due to gravity, but the underlying cause is global warming, which results in glaciers melting and increases the likelihood that a serac will come off,” the author writes.
The Marmolada is the tallest mountain in the Dolomites, rising 3,343 meters.
‘I am in contact with the Head of the Civil Protection Department Fabrizio Curcio, to keep him informed, and with the Head of the Alpine Rescue Delegation Alex Barattin,’ said regional councillor for civil protection Gianpaolo Bottacin.
The two helicopters from the Suem 118 of the Ulss of Belluno are already in use on the Venetian side.
Additionally, one of the Veneto Region Civil Protection’s helicopters was used to deliver teams of mountain rescuers and canine units to the location.
“All of the local mountain rescue teams have been activated.” The initial victims have already been healed.