All Italian rescuers survived last weekend’s helicopter crash on the mountain’s summit and completed their mission to save a climber who fell into a crevasse, officials said.
Italy’s national mountain rescue service Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Supereologico said a helicopter crew was responding to a distress call on Monte Rosa, Western Europe’s second-highest mountain, on Saturday when it crashed into the mountain’s upper glacier. It crashed.
Paolo Pettinaroli, a passenger on the helicopter, told Italian daily Corriere della Sera that he was flying at an altitude of about 4,500 meters when he suddenly heard a “thud”.
“It was a flash in the pan,” Pettinaroli said. we couldn’t understand. I don’t know what happened. We had arrived. However, the helicopter was destroyed. ”
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Everyone on board the rescue helicopter survived the crash in the highlands of Monte Rosa, a mountain on the Swiss-Italian border. (Nazionale Soccorso Alpino and Supereologico)
The agency released a photo showing a badly damaged helicopter lying under Capanna Margherita, a mountain hut built on the summit of Punta Gnifetti. Due to its high altitude, it is the tallest building in Europe.
However, the crew survived without serious injuries and were able to emerge from the wreckage and complete their mission. The rescue agency said the action marked the “tenacious spirit” of its members.
Capanna Margherita is a mountain hut built on the top of Punta Gnifetti. Due to its high altitude, it is the tallest building in Europe. (DEA/G.GNEMMI, via Getty, File)
“However, the team on board completed the rescue mission launched and recovered the climber who had fallen into the crack,” the rescue team said. “They are extraordinary examples of people who put their hearts into what we do every day, before their own strength.”
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Another helicopter arrived from Zermatt, Switzerland, to pick up rescuers and climbers and fly them to the valley, the paper said.
This 1987 photo shows climbers climbing Capanna Margherita in Monte Rosa. (Dölf Preisig/RDB/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
The crew members underwent medical tests at the hospital. Further information about the incident or the rescued climbers was not immediately available.
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Monte Rosa is located on the border of Italy and Switzerland.
