Five people, including a father and his 17-year-old daughter, were killed in an avalanche in a mountainous area in northern Italy. Two other climbers were rescued, the Italian National Mountain and Cave Rescue Service (CNSAS) reported.
The avalanche occurred in the morning of November 1 in the Ortles massif, near the Vertana peak in Alto Adige, at an altitude of approximately 3,200 meters. It covered two groups of German climbers who were climbing. The incident occurred on a route that is not considered technically difficult, but is physically exhausting due to the length and openness of the area.
One of the groups, consisting of three people, was completely buried by an avalanche. Rescuers found them dead – two men aged 21 and 58, and a 21-year-old woman. There were four climbers in the second group: two managed to escape, and two went missing. The search for them continued with the help of a helicopter and drones, but due to deteriorating weather conditions, the rescue operation had to be temporarily suspended. The search resumed on November 2, when the bodies of the two deceased were found – a father and his 17-year-old daughter.
As a reminder, in September 2023, two climbers died on Mount Ortler – a 46-year-old Romanian living in Vicenza, and a 35-year-old German citizen from Munich. The tragedy occurred during a climb along the usual route when a handrail broke off, causing the climbers to lose their balance and fall from a height of about 200 meters.
