Bulgarian Woman is among the Skiers who Died in the Alps

The number of people killed from the ski group of 14 people, found yesterday in the Swiss Alps, has already grown to 8. Among the deceased is a Bulgarian citizen, the local police said. "the Bulgarian citizen is 52 years old," the government said in a statement.

It just became clear that the dead was Kalina Damyanova, the wife of the Italian Mario Castilioni, who is also among the victims.

Two days ago, bad weather in the Pin Alpine region in the Swiss Alps trapped 14 skiers. They had gone two days earlier to a 180-day-long transition from the French resort of Chamonix to the Swiss-Zermatt. On Sunday, they were expected in the Caban de Vinee shelter (3157 m above sea level), but its owners did not receive any news from them until 6:30 am. Meanwhile, a heavy snow storm has developed in the area, with wind speeds exceeding 80 km per hour. Apparently, the group decided to spend the night of a covenant near a rock.

The help message from the remote area of ​​the Alps caused a massive rescue operation involving 7 helicopters. The police add that one of the skiers died in a fall. Five of the skiers died soon after being hospitalized, including the 52-year-old Bulgarian. The police reported that the bodies of two other climbers, aged 21 and 22, were found down in the Alps, in the Canton of Bern. The signal was received a day earlier, but the bad weather forced the rescuers to wait. Thus, the number of people dead rose to 8 people. Some of the people in the group have fallen into "mild hypothermia".

The victims are Italian, French and German citizens, the police said, adding that they have begun efforts to officially identify them. All families are aware of the tragedy.