Rigopiano avalanche

Last updated

Rigopiano avalanche
Italy relief location map.jpg
Cross.svg
Rigopiano avalanche
Date18 January 2017 (2017-01-18)
Time16:48 local time [1]
Location Rigopiano, Abruzzo, Italy
Coordinates 42°25′52″N13°46′58″E / 42.43111°N 13.78278°E / 42.43111; 13.78278
CauseEarthquakes and/or heavy snowfall
Participants40 (28 guests, 12 employees)
Deaths29
Non-fatal injuries11
Survivors11

On the afternoon of 18 January 2017, a major avalanche occurred on Gran Sasso d'Italia massif, one of the mountains above Rigopiano, impacting and destroying the four-star Hotel Rigopiano in Farindola, Abruzzo. [2] The impact killed twenty-nine people and injured eleven others, making the avalanche the deadliest in Italy since the White Friday avalanches in 1916, and the deadliest avalanche in Europe since the Galtür avalanche in 1999. [3]

Contents

Two causal factors for the avalanche of 2017 include a series of earthquakes that struck the region earlier in the day and the record snowfall which occurred in the region for days prior to the avalanche. [4]

Avalanche

It was reported that shortly after a series of earthquakes hit the region, many guests of the four-star Hotel Rigopiano were gathered on the ground floor awaiting evacuation when the avalanche struck at 16:48 local time on 18 January. [1] [5] At the time, there were forty people in the hotel including twenty-eight guests and twelve employees.[ citation needed ] Upon impact, the avalanche caused part of the roof of the hotel to collapse, and moved it 10 metres (33 ft) down the mountain. [6] Italian authorities estimated that the avalanche weighed between 40,000 and 60,000 tonnes when it hit the hotel and that the weight of the snow increased to 120,000 tonnes as the snow and ice pressing down on the building became heavier. [7] Upon impact to the hotel the speed was around 100 km/h (62 mph). [8]

Rigopiano Hotel after and before the avalanche Rigopiano Hotel.jpg
Rigopiano Hotel after and before the avalanche

The avalanche largely destroyed the hotel, [9] killing twenty-nine people. [10] A total of eleven people were rescued following the avalanche, including two who survived the avalanche because they were standing outside when the avalanche hit. [11] [12] The survivors trapped inside the hotel, sheltered by lofts that had not collapsed, were located around 12:00 on 20 January, over 30 hours after the avalanche. [13]

Overall, five adults and four children trapped below the ruins and the snow were rescued, the last ones after 58 hours, having survived on frozen snow. [14] Ten out of the eleven people rescued received minor injuries related to hypothermia. [15] [16] The eleventh person also received a compression injury to his upper arm, which he underwent surgery for. [17] On 23 January, rescuers recovered a twelfth body, but also located three puppies alive under the snow, indicating that the twenty-two people missing may have still been alive. [18] However, it was later revealed that no one else had survived the avalanche. [10] One of the victims, as reported from a text message in her smartphone, survived for more than 40 hours.[ citation needed ]

Response

Due to harsh conditions that inhibited helicopters from flying, first responders had difficulty reaching the hotel. Large amounts of snow had fallen for several days prior to the accident, and fallen trees and rubble on the streets delayed the clearing of snow, so that the first rescuers arrived at the scene on skis at 04:30 on 19 January. [19] They reported that the hotel had been buried under at least four metres (13 ft) of snow, and that it could take days before they would know if there were any survivors. [20] The rescue workers' base camp with ambulances was set up approximately 10 km (6 mi) away. [21] Individuals from emergency services, civil protection, alpine rescue and volunteers including asylum seekers worked with technology to track body heat, phone signals and other data, and drones to locate victims. [8]

After two days, emergency personnel made contact with six survivors in an air pocket of the destroyed hotel and managed to rescue them. Five days after the avalanche, three puppies from the hotel's resident dogs were found and rescued by workers, and reunited with their parents, Lupo (Wolf) and Nuvola (Cloud) who had escaped and found shelter in the nearby village of Farindola. [22] The puppies were regarded as a sign of hope, but officials warned that their survival did not mean that more human survivors would be found.

Controversy

There was criticism over the amount of time it took emergency services to respond to the accident. A survivor who had remained outside the hotel following the avalanche phoned for help, but allegedly Italian authorities did not at first believe that the accident had happened. Quintino Marcella, the owner of the restaurant L'Isola Felice in Silvi, received a call from the survivor and attempted to contact authorities on numerous occasions but was purportedly not taken seriously. [23] On 23 January, local newspapers reported that prior to the avalanche, the owner of the hotel sent an email to local authorities expressing his concern for the hotel guests because they were panicking after the earthquakes. He had said that many were planning on spending the night outside the hotel in their cars. [24]

On 22 January, the mayor of Farindola, Ilario Lacchetta, announced that he was planning on filing a lawsuit against the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for publishing a cartoon allegedly mocking victims of the disaster. The cartoon depicts Death riding the avalanche down the mountain on skis holding two scythes instead of ski poles. Lacchetta stated that the cartoon "goes beyond bad taste" and was just as offensive as a similar satirical cartoon published by the same company which mocked victims of the Amatrice earthquake in August 2016. [25]

Prosecutors launched a manslaughter investigation of the failure of authorities to respond for many hours to reports of an avalanche. [9] In addition, an investigation was launched to determine whether Hotel Rigopiano was built on the debris of previous avalanches which had taken a similar route down the mountain, therefore putting the hotel in danger. [26]

On 31 January, Italian judges announced that autopsies revealed that almost all of the victims died immediately from the impact of the avalanche itself, rather than succumbing to hypothermia in the days following the disaster. [27]

A trial of officials, emergency responders and hotel management began in 2019 and concluded in February 2023. Five people were found guilty, including the former manager of the hotel and an engineer who had approved the hotel's balconies and canopies. The mayor of Farindola was found guilty of failing to order the evacuation of the hotel and received the longest sentence, two years and eight months in prison. There was insufficient evidence to establish his guilt on 25 other charges. The former prefect of Pescara and the former provincial president were found not guilty. Victims' relatives protested the verdicts in the courtroom. [28] [29]

Memorials

A year after the incident, on 18 January 2018, a day of remembrance was held during which victims' relatives, local residents and representatives of the authorities and emergency services read prayers and poems and laid flowers outside the ruins of the hotel. There was also a display of photos of those killed, with the words "Never Again". [8]

Two survivors wrote a book about their family's experience titled Il Peso della neve ('The Weight of the Snow'). [30]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571</span> 1972 aviation accident in the Andes mountains of Argentina

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 was the chartered flight of a Fairchild FH-227D from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Santiago, Chile, that crashed in the Andes mountains on 13 October 1972. The accident and subsequent survival became known as the Andes flight disaster and the Miracle of the Andes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salang Pass</span> Mountain pass in eastern Afghanistan

The Salang Pass is the primary mountain pass connecting northern Afghanistan with Parwan Province, with onward connections to Kabul Province, southern Afghanistan. Located on the border of Parwan Province and Baghlan Province, it is just to the East of the Kushan Pass, and both of them were of great importance in early times as they provided the most direct connections between the Kabul region with northern Afghanistan or Tokharistan. The Salang River originates nearby and flows south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 Galtür avalanche</span> Avalanche in Galtür, Austria

The Galtür avalanche occurred on 23 February 1999 in the Alpine village of Galtür, Austria. At 50 m (160 ft) high and traveling at 290 km/h (180 mph), the powder avalanche overturned cars, destroyed buildings and buried 57 people. By the time rescue crews managed to arrive, 31 people had died. It was considered the worst Alpine avalanche in 40 years. Three major weather systems originating from the Atlantic accounted for large snowfalls totaling around four meters in the area. Freeze-thaw conditions created a weak layer on top of an existing snow pack; further snow was then deposited on top. This, coupled with high wind speeds, created large snow drifts and caused roughly 170,000 tons of snow to be deposited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dyatlov Pass incident</span> 1959 unsolved deaths in the Soviet Union

The Dyatlov Pass incident is an event in which nine Soviet hikers died in the northern Ural Mountains between February 1 and 2, 1959, under uncertain circumstances. The experienced trekking group from the Ural Polytechnical Institute, led by Igor Dyatlov, had established a camp on the eastern slopes of Kholat Syakhl in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. Overnight, something caused them to cut their way out of their tent and flee the campsite while inadequately dressed for the heavy snowfall and subzero temperatures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farindola</span> Comune in Abruzzo, Italy

Farindola is a comune and town in the province of Pescara in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is located in the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 Luzon earthquake</span> Earthquake in the Philippines

The 1990 Luzon earthquake occurred on July 16 at 4:26 p.m. (PDT) or 3:26 p.m. (PST) on the densely populated island of Luzon in the Philippines. The shock had a surface-wave magnitude of 7.8 and produced a 125 km-long ground rupture that stretched from Dingalan, Aurora to Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya. The event was a result of strike-slip movements along the Philippine Fault and the Digdig Fault within the Philippine Fault System. The earthquake's epicenter was near the town of Rizal, Nueva Ecija, northeast of Cabanatuan. An estimated 1,621 people were killed, most of the fatalities located in Central Luzon and the Cordillera region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1954 Blons avalanches</span> Natural disasters in Austria

The Blons avalanches took place in Austria in January 1954. They occurred in the federal state of Vorarlberg, where they had a big impact on the Great Walser Valley region and specifically, the village of Blons. The avalanches occurred over a two-day period beginning from 11 January 1954 and resulted in the death of 125 people, 57 of whom were killed specifically in Blons. Two big avalanches struck Blons within 9 hours, the second of which buried rescue workers who were attempting to save civilians from the first avalanche. The avalanches caused much destruction to the Blons village, damaging one third of housing infrastructure and killing one third of the population. The Blons avalanches are considered to be one of the worst mass burials in Austrian history, resulting in one of the highest number of fatalities due to an avalanche.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Hood climbing accidents</span>

Mount Hood climbing accidents are incidents related to mountain climbing or hiking on Oregon's Mount Hood. As of 2007, about 10,000 people attempt to climb the mountain each year. As of May 2002, more than 130 people are known to have died climbing Mount Hood since records have been kept. One of the worst climbing accidents occurred in 1986, when seven high school students and two teachers froze to death while attempting to retreat from a storm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 Iran blizzard</span> Deadliest blizzard in history

The Iran blizzard of February 1972 was the deadliest blizzard in history, as recorded by the Guinness Book of Records. A week-long period of low temperatures and severe winter storms, lasting 3–9 February 1972, resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 people. Storms dumped more than 7.9 metres of snow across rural areas in northwestern, central and southern Iran. The blizzard came after four years of drought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avalanche rescue</span> Rescue of people buried in avalanches

Avalanche rescue involves locating and retrieving people who have been buried in avalanches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Schalfkogel avalanche</span>

The 2009 Schalfkogel avalanche was an avalanche which occurred in Sölden, Austria, on 2 May 2009. Six people were killed, five Czechs and one Slovak, when the disaster struck in the 3,500-metre (11,500 ft) Schalfkogel mountain range. The corpses were discovered to have been frozen upon recovery. It was the deadliest avalanche to have occurred in Austria since March 2000. Although avalanches are a regular occurrence in the region, they mainly kill individuals as opposed to entire groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Salang avalanches</span> Disaster in Parwan, Afghanistan

The 2010 Salang avalanches consisted of a series of at least 36 avalanches that struck the southern approach to the Salang Tunnel, north of Kabul. They were caused by a freak storm in the Hindu Kush mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Van earthquakes</span> 2011 earthquakes in eastern Turkey

The 2011 Van earthquakes occurred in eastern Turkey near the city of Van. The first earthquake happened on 23 October at 13:41 local time. The shock had a Mww magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). It occurred at a shallow depth, causing heavy shaking across much of eastern Turkey and lighter tremors across neighboring parts of the South Caucasus and Levant. According to Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency on 30 October, the earthquake killed 604 and injured 4,152. At least 11,232 buildings sustained damage in the region, 6,017 of which were found to be uninhabitable. The uninhabitable homes left as much as 8,321 households with an average household population of around 7.6 homeless in the province; this could mean that at least around 60,000 people were left homeless. The other 5,215 have been damaged but are habitable. A separate earthquake within the same earthquake system happened on 9 November at 21:23 local time. 38 people were killed and 260 people were injured in the 9 November earthquake.

On March 4, 2012, at least three avalanches struck the Badakhshan province of northeastern Afghanistan. One of those avalanches destroyed a small village of about 200 people. The name of the village is uncertain; some sources call it Dasty and locate it in Darzab District, and others call it Sherin Nazim and locate it in Shekay District. Two other villages were affected by the avalanche. At least 50 people were killed in the disaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Afghanistan avalanches</span>

The 2015 Afghanistan avalanches were a series of devastating snow avalanches that occurred in late February 2015 across northeastern Afghanistan, primarily affecting four provinces. The hardest hit was Panjshir Province, where entire villages were buried under the snow. The disaster claimed the lives of up to 308 people, making it one of the deadliest avalanches in Afghanistan's history. The avalanches also impacted Parwan Province, causing widespread destruction and further complicating rescue efforts in the remote, mountainous regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Friday (1916)</span> Avalanche on the Italian Front of World War I

White Friday occurred during the Italian front of World War I. The most significant avalanche struck the Austro-Hungarian barracks on Mount Marmolada, killing 270 soldiers. Other avalanches on the same day would strike Italian and other Austro-Hungarian positions, killing hundreds. According to some reports, both sides deliberately fired shells into the weakened snowpacks in an attempt to bury the other side.

Events during the year 2017 in Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">January 2017 Central Italy earthquakes</span> Series of earthquakes in Central Italy

A series of four major earthquakes struck Central Italy between Abruzzo, Lazio, the Marche and Umbria regions on 18 January 2017.

Ghisberto is an Italian political cartoonist. He has been described as a right-wing populist for his cartoons, which attack left-wing politicians and immigrants.

In January 2020, at least 74 people were killed and several others were injured in Neelum Valley, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, after a series of avalanches triggered by heavy snowfall destroyed and buried houses.

References

  1. 1 2 Casa, Carolina. "HOTEL RIGOPIANO L'allarme inascoltato prima del disastro". Tgi-rai.it. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  2. ↑ Claudio, Lavanga; Jamieson, Alastair. "Italy Avalanche: Hotel Rigopiano Buried After Earthquakes, 'Many Dead'". NBC News. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  3. ↑ Henson, Bob. "More than 20 Deaths Feared in Italian Hotel Buried by Avalanche". Weather Underground. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  4. ↑ Geggel, Laura. "Earthquakes or Snowstorms? Cause of Italy's Deadly Avalanche Debated". Live Science. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  5. ↑ "Italy avalanche: Ten found alive in Rigopiano hotel after two days". BBC News. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  6. ↑ "Rigopiano hotel avalanche: Italian rescuers find no sign of life". BBC News. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  7. ↑ Rome, Josephine McKenna. "Avalanche boy left an orphan as parents confirmed dead". Independent. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 "Italy marks one year since deadly Rigopiano avalanche". 18 January 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  9. 1 2 Lavanga, Claudio. "Italy Quake Avalanche: Four More Survivors Pulled from Buried Hotel Rigopiano". NBC News. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  10. 1 2 "Italy's Rigopiano hotel death toll reaches 29, rescue operation over". TASS Russian News Agency. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  11. ↑ Denti, Antonio. "More survivors in Italian avalanche hotel as death toll rises to five". Reuters. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Italy rescuers race to find 23 missing in avalanche hotel". Business Standard. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  13. ↑ Gagliardi, di Andrea; Tripodi, Alessia. "Hotel Rigopiano ten survivors, so far pulled alive a woman and four children". 24 Ore. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  14. ↑ Mensurati, Marco. "Rigopiano, the story of the survivors: "We lived by drinking snow"". Repubblica.it. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  15. ↑ Giuffrida, Angela. "Italy avalanche: many feared dead as Rigopiano hotel engulfed". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  16. ↑ "'Angels! Angels!' Avalanche Survivors Call Out to Rescuers". FOX 40. CNN. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  17. ↑ "4 more survivors pulled out of Italy's avalanche-hit hotel". Fox News World. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  18. ↑ "Italian avalanche: hope for survivors after three puppies found alive in rubble". The Guardian. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  19. ↑ Mignucci, Robert. "Avalanche destroys Italian hotel, up to 30 feared dead under snow". Reuters. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  20. ↑ "The terrible truth about the victims of the avalanche in Italy". FiveAA.com. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  21. ↑ "Italy's Hotel Rigopiano was buried under an avalanche, but Italian authorities reportedly didn't believe it happened". Stuff.co. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  22. ↑ Bever, Lindsey (24 January 2017). "After deadly Italian avalanche, a glint of 'hope' — 3 puppies rescued from the rubble". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  23. ↑ Osborne, Samuel. "Italy earthquakes: Many feared dead in hotel buried by avalanche". Independent. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  24. ↑ "Italian authorities question how earthquake risks were handled while search for survivors continues". CBC News. Associated Press. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  25. ↑ "'No satire': Italian town hit by avalanche to file lawsuit against Charlie Hebdo over caricature". Apsny News. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  26. ↑ Agnew, Paddy. "Italian investigators to see if controversial avalanche hotel built in danger zone". The Irish Times. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  27. ↑ "Avalanche victims 'died of impact, not hypothermia". The Local.it. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  28. ↑ "Italian court acquits most over 29 avalanche deaths in hotel". Associated Press. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  29. ↑ "Valanga di Rigopiano, condannato il sindaco ma 25 assoluzioni. La rabbia dei parenti: 'Vergogna'" (in Italian). RAI. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  30. ↑ Parete, Adriana; Parete, Giampiero (2018). Il Peso della neve. Storia della nostra famiglia sotto la valanga di Rigopiano (in Italian). Milan: Mondadori. ISBN   9788804685883.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.