A 52-year-old mountain climbing instructor fell to his death, with other climbers reportedly witnessing him tumble off an 8,800ft cliff in Italy.
Victim Fabio Racanella, from the city of Orvieto, died while descending from the Corno Grande summit – the highest peak of the Italian peninsula at over 9,500 feet.
The seasoned climber’s fatal plunge was reportedly witnessed by others, who immediately phoned emergency services.
Rescuers reportedly reached him with a helicopter, but it was too late to save him.
Paramedics onboard could only pronounce him dead, local media said.
Racanella was well-known among the local community for being a great connoisseur of the mountains and a lover of sport.
But experts claim his climb to Corno Grande was too risky and dangerous in the first place, with the recent snowfalls and heavy rains making a potentially fatal combination.
The President of the Alpine Guides of the Abruzzo region, Davide Di Giosafatte, said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “Now, up there, it’s not the time to go.
“The weather did not predict anything good, there have been recent rainfalls and we need special attention: we are at the end of the season, the temperatures are rising, by midday at the latest you have to be safe precisely because of the instability of the snow due to the heat.
“The season is over, I repeat to everyone, to do those things. Now it’s too risky, moreover there was a big avalanche in the Conca degli Invalidi, which testifies to the danger of the mountain.”
It is not yet clear what caused Racanella’s fall.
The case is currently under investigation.
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Story By: Simona Kitanovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
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