13 climbers rescued from landslide on Matterhorn

Due to the landslide on the Matterhorn River, 13 climbers who were on the Italian regular route at an altitude of 3,715 meters were taken to safety Tuesday evening. Foreign mountaineers were rescued just before 9 p.m. by helicopter, an Alpine rescue operation in the Aosta Valley reported.

Two climbers who were under the landslide at the time of the collapse stated that they did not see any other climbers behind them. This was confirmed by climbers who were above the collapse site.

The damaged road is set to remain closed Wednesday, until geologists can check the condition of the mountain. The mountain guides had already stopped climbing there on July 20 due to the risk of collapse due to drought. Some mountaineers would have tried climbing the Matterhorn anyway.

On July 3, 11 people died when a glacier broke through at the Marmolada in Trentino. Last week, the mayor of Kanazei municipality ordered the extension of the so-called red zone, which is no longer accessible. The reason for this is the possibility of instability in the niche of the rocks and the widening of many cracks, the statement said.