Italian emergency teams are looking for two missing skiers this Sunday after an avalanche in the Alps, in the Cormayeur area (northwest), some work made difficult by adverse weather conditions.
Rescuers have already reached the area of ??the avalanche and have located two skiers alive and in good condition, while two others are still missing, according to sources from the Valle d’Aosta Alpine Relief body.
The landslide occurred around 1:00 p.m. local time (12:00 GMT) in the Vesses gorge and was reported by “some” skiers who attended the avalanche. Although they could not specify where they were, the Alpine Relief Operations Center of Valle d’Aosta managed to identify it and prepare a plan to reach the area.
In this way, he sent a rescue team that had to face adverse weather conditions that prevented the use of helicopters. The rescuers, with personnel from the Alpine School of the Italian Finance Guard and a doctor, had to make their way overland using skis.
“The intervention was hampered, in addition to the weather conditions, by the instability of the snow cover,” they explained. However, upon reaching the Vesses gorge, they located two skiers alive, who had previously given the alarm signal but who assured that there were two other people with them, for the moment their whereabouts are unknown.
The search operations continue and it has already been possible to send a helicopter to this high mountain place thanks to a lull in the weather. The director of that body, Paolo Comune, reported on RAI public television that the avalanche affects more than 400 meters of land: “We are not very optimistic,” he said.
gsm/sab
