"The Mountainside Exploded"

By Jay D. Palmer

In Stava, a popular vacation town in Italy's rugged Dolomite mountains, tourists were returning to their hotels for lunch last Friday. Shortly afternoon, there was a rumbling in the ground, followed by a cloud of white dust that some mistook for smoke. "I thought it was an earthquake," said one survivor. "The mountainside exploded." Less than a mile north of the village, a pair of earthen dams had suddenly collapsed. An avalanche of water, mud and debris swept through Stava, scarring the mountainsides, destroying three hotels, burying homes and scattering bodies in its path. The deluge, some 100 ft. high and 150 ft. wide, left between 200 and 250 people dead and more than 100 injured.

Despite the remoteness of the disaster area, about 130 miles northeast of Milan, more than 4,000 amateur and professional rescue workers had rushed to the scene by late afternoon. Soldiers, firemen and policemen were joined by Alpine rescue squads with sniffer dogs trained to search out avalanche victims. Although rescue efforts continued through Friday night and Saturday, only eight people were found alive, and most of the work involved recovering bodies.

"Now we have no more hope of finding anyone else alive," said Civil Defense Minister Giuseppe Zamberletti on Friday night. He was wrong. After working through the night, rescue workers pulled two people alive from the debris Saturday morning, though one died later that day. By week's end 170 bodies had been recovered and at least 50 people were still considered missing. The bodies were taken to a temporary morgue at a schoolhouse in a nearby town, where many had to be hosed down to be cleaned of thick mud. So many were so badly mutilated that only 84 could be identified.

As the rescue work continued, authorities ordered inquiries into the dams' collapse. The structures, built 24 years ago, had been sold by one mining company to another before being taken over by the present owner, the Prealpi Mineraria company of Bergamo, in 1980. The dam complex had consisted of two earthen dams that had created wash basins for filtering and extracting fluorite, a mineral used in making glass. Recent heavy thunderstorms were blamed for the immediate collapse of the dams, but some experts alleged that there might have been an excessive buildup of mud in the lakes from the mineral-extraction process. "Nature does not come into the picture," said Renzo Zia, president of the European Federation of Geologists. "Rather, it was lack of foresight by man."

At least 50 Stava residents are believed to have lost their lives. Even harder hit was the tourist population, especially guests at three hotels, the Erika, the Stava and the Miramonti. All were crowded at the time, and it was originally feared that 95 children were among the victims when the buildings were totally destroyed. But on Saturday it was learned that the two bus-loads of children had left the scene safely. Many other people died. "We reached the Erika," said one fireman, "and there was nothing there. It was just gone." Explained Painter Giovanni Grandi, who had been in a nearby chalet: "I saw the Miramonti go down. It was like an enormous hand had just come to knock it down."

Some occupants of the Dolomiti hotel were luckier. Though the building was partly destroyed, a number of people who had huddled together in one corner of the dining room escaped the wall of water. Adolph Tirelli, a member of the Italian customs police, helped rescue one man. "We heard some people crying for help and rushed across the hall, but it was quicksand," he noted. "In the cellar, the mud reached to within four feet of the ceiling. We started digging . with our hands to take him out but unfortunately were not able to pull out any of the other people who were with him."

Some along the mountainside survived as the water surged by just below them in the valley. Farmer Valentino Tretter saw the cloud of white dust raised by the torrent and climbed above the valley road to investigate. "Soon after, the mud came across my garden and my barn," he recalled, "I shouted toward the house of the Vinante family, which is a little underneath mine, but in a few moments it was wiped away. Adriano, his wife Pauola and their three children--all are dead."

Adriano Jellici, mayor of the neighboring town of Tesero, was driving up the valley with his daughter. They were saved because the road at that point swung high up the hillside. "I have seen the end of the world," Jellici exclaimed. Other travelers were not so fortunate. Bank Employee Mario Deflorian spoke of his cousin Lucio Deflorian, a carpenter: "He was coming down the road in a truck with his two sons, Umberto, 18, and Clemente, 24. Right away he guessed what was happening. He yelled, 'Get out! Get out!' The two boys escaped by running into the forest. The father was swept away. He disappeared." But another cousin, Lucia Volgang, remains optimistic he will be found. "We are still hoping for a miracle." --By Jay D. Palmer. Reported by Roberto Suro/Rome

With reporting by Reported by Roberto Suro/Rome