L’AQUILA – Ten avalanches, eight people swept away with three injured. The balance of a challenging day for the rescuers on the Gran Sasso. The conditions, moreover, did not promise anything good: the heavy snowfall at the end of April, the rise in temperatures and the characteristics of the snow represented a real risk. And so it was, they do the rest, as the rescuers also recalled, inexperience and inadequate equipment.
But there were also controversies over the rescue times. “Today on the southern slope of the western peak of the Corno Grande, 10 avalanches occurred with eight people swept away”. The speaker is Ferdinando Lattanzi, an expert guide in the area who called for help. “I witnessed the 7 that broke away from the Bissolati Canal and the temple which overwhelmed 5 people who, I must say, were all very lucky because only two suffered significant injuries”.
“I called the emergency services and I must say that the new single number 112 did not work as 118 did in the past” explains Lattanzi. Activated in recent months, the single emergency number has centralized the old 112, 113, 118 etc. into a single number which, at least in intention, should allow interventions to be rationalized and rescue operations better coordinated. “After having to explain the location of the request for intervention to an operator, who had no idea where the Corno Grande was, half an hour passed before the helicopter intervened, perhaps it would be better not to change the things that work”
