Rescuers on Tuesday continued
searching for survivors after Sunday's disaster on the Marmolada
glacier although the slim hopes of finding alive any of the 13
people reported missing are fading.
Seven people are confirmed to have died and eight people are
injured, several seriously, after a massive chunk of the glacier
in northern Italy broke away, causing a deadly avalanche of ice
and rock.
On Monday Premier Mario Draghi visited the area of the disaster
and linked it to global heating.
"This is a drama that certainly has unforeseen elements, but
certainly also depends on the deterioration of the environment
and the climate situation," he said at the Dolomites resort town
of Canazei.
"The government must reflect on what has happened and take
measures so that what happened has a low probability of
happening (again) and, indeed, will be averted".
Experts have linked the current heat wave that has hit Italy to
the disaster, saying it has made the glacier unstable, with
temperatures reaching 10°C at 3,000m above sea level, something
that was unthinkable only a few years ago so early in summer.
Scientists say more frequent and intense heat waves are a result
of climate change caused by human activity.
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