L'Aquila, Dec. 26 (LaPresse) – "Today, it’s simply not possible for the helicopter to take off," said Daniele Perilli, president of the Alpine and Speleological Rescue of Abruzzo, speaking to LaPresse from Campo Imperatore in the high-altitude area of L’Aquila. He announced that there will be no helicopter reconnaissance today over Vallone dell’Inferno, the area where two climbers who slipped on Sunday afternoon on Gran Sasso are believed to be located.
The two climbers, Cristian Gualdi and Luca Perazzini, aged 48 and 42 respectively, lost contact on Sunday evening after informing rescuers by phone that they had slipped and lost some equipment.
Strong gusts of wind have made helicopter operations impossible, and a new snowstorm is expected on Gran Sasso d’Italia. The climbers went missing while descending from Direttissima to Corno Grande.
"We are doing everything possible, but we won’t risk the lives of the rescuers," explained Perilli. He recalled that 11 rescuers were stranded at the "Lo Zio" refuge on Christmas Eve and only managed to descend to the base camp yesterday morning.
One of the rescuers, stranded earlier at the high-altitude hostel and originally from Sulmona in the L’Aquila region, had already indicated this morning that conditions were prohibitive for helicopter flights.
"We are working day and night, always within the safety limits of the team. At the moment, there are 25 personnel at the base camp," concluded Perilli.
Perazzini is an electrician employed by Nuova Cei, while Gualdi owns a window frame company in Savignano. Both are from Santarcangelo di Romagna in the province of Rimini, where the local community is anxiously awaiting news and still hoping for their safe return.
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