A Dutch family was mercilessly hit in Italy on Wednesday by a tragic accident. During an adventurous walk through the mountains, the mother of the family – for an unknown cause – fell about a hundred meters. The 70-year-old woman did not survive the fall.
The drama happened around noon on Wednesday in Meran, after the capital Bozen, the largest city in the Italian province of Bozen-South Tyrol, near the border with Austria. The family walked the Alta Via di Merano, one of the most famous Italian hiking trails in the heart of South Tyrol. A large part of this route runs at an altitude of about 1500 meters. Hikers are constantly climbing and descending, so the path is not without risks.
At an altitude of approximately 1300 meters, things went completely wrong for the Dutch family, write various Italian media. The mother lost her balance while descending and fell about a hundred meters in front of her two adult children. One of her children is a doctor by profession and tried to save her mother’s life. In the meantime, other walkers who witnessed the incident alerted the ambulance and fire brigade.
Emergency services arrived in large numbers, including medical specialists from the AVS (South Tyrolean Alpine Club) rescue team, the police and a trauma helicopter. But all help was of no avail: the woman died on the spot from her injuries. The Italian police are now investigating how the drama could have happened and are talking to several witnesses. The victim’s relatives were taken back to the valley by helicopter.
What is the Alta Via di Merano?
The Alta Via di Merano is a multi-day hike and runs in about 100 kilometers along the edge of Naturpark Texelgruppe, on the southern side of the Alps. According to experts, it is a ‘spectacular journey in a majestic landscape’. The panorama of this trip in the Texelgruppe Nature Park combines high mountains and highlands, waterfalls, pine forests, tricky climbs and paths carved into the rocky environment.
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