Italian glacier collapse: 6 people killed in massive avalanche in Marmolada

At least 6 people have been killed and 10 others reported missing after being caught in a massive avalanche triggered by the collapse of the Marmolada glacier in the northern Italian Alps. As many as 8 people have also sustained grave injuries after they were dragged down by sliding mountainside after the Alpine glacier broke loose. The snow and rock came sweeping down on the Marmolada mountain, which is the highest in the Italian Dolomites region- 3,300 m above sea level- near Punta Rocca hamlet. The tragic incident struck hikers while they were en route to the summit.

The roped parties were hit by the avalanche of snow, ice, and rocks at the time they were climbing upward, said Alpine rescue Corps told the Associated Press. The detached section is called the pinnacle of ice or serac. Temperatures were around 10C when the disaster struck- which is the highest ever recorded at the glacier's summit. Two out of the eight injured were immediately moved under medical care due to life-threatening wounds, local media reports said.

Rescue workers scurried to the disaster location immediately to retrieve the victims and monitor further developments. Alpine teams from the nearby Vento region were immediately deployed with sniffer dogs to locate the missing mountaineers, emergency services said in a tweet, adding that they believed there were 15 hikers in the troop. Italian PM, who recently attended the G7 Summit, expressed "sincerest condolences" to the kins of those who were killed in the mishap.

Watch: Video captures exact moment of avalanche

Videos captured by onlookers showed a deluge of snow, ice, and rock that overran the popular route to the summit. A number of hikers were rope climbing when the large chunk came hurtling down the slopes, causing a rumbling noise. The greyish semi-solid mix of ice and soil streamed down the rocky terrain as alert hikers moved away to save their lives. Watch videos here:

'Clearly something abnormal'

It was immediately unclear as to what caused the tragic fall of the glacier. Although a rescue service spokesperson of the region, Walter Milan, while speaking to Italian state TV suggested that unusually high temperatures in the Northern Alps could have sparked the avalanche. "The heat is not usual...that's extreme. Clearly, it is something is abnormal," he told the publication. An Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner told La Republica newspaper that the glacier was in fact receding for over several years now due to global warming. "It is the global heat which causes glaciers to melt ...there is hardly any ice left," he told the paper. Notably, an intense heatwave has been gripping Italy since late June.

(Image: AP)