AWFUL AVALANCHES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21769, 7 April 1934, Page 3 (Supplement)

AWFUL AVALANCHES

DISASTERS IN * ITALY WHOLE VILLAGES ENTOMBED Amid scenes of ruin and death wrought by an extraordinary series of avalanches and an earthquake, gallant rescuers were . hard at work under perilous conditions recently in Albania, Corsica, and the Italian Apennines. In succouring the injured in the disasters —totalling some hundreds —and in recovering the bodies of scores who were killed they have experienced greatest difficulty. About 41 persons perished at Ortiporio, Corsica, when, following a storm that lasted several days, huge masses of snow and rocks crashed down in the night on a number of houses. Among the victims were 18 children. The fact that the stricken houses stood at a height of about 2000 ft. and in the neighbourhood the snow is between 15 and 20ft. deep made the task of would-be helpers one of hardship. . Troops ysent from Bastia searched the debris of the wrecked homes without finding a single survivor. One; house contained the bodies of a father and mother and their seven children. Two villages were similarly overwhelmed by avalanches near the Adriatic coast in Italy, with the result that IS people perished. An exhausted skier who struggled into Maeerata after a 12-hour journey over snow and icebound roads carried the news that Ville di Mezzo, a large outlying section of the town of Bolognola, had been buried. Many of the homes were crushed under tons of ico and snow. Another avalanche enveloped the village of Monte Pobbiano, in the province of Ascoli, causing loss of life and heavy material damage. The earthquake, the force of which was felt in Albania, severed communication with the regions that suffered, making it difficult to ascertain the casualties and extent of the damage.