Valeria Coletta & Fabrizio Martino Marchi Italian husband and wife fall to their deaths while hiking leaving 5 year old daughter an orphan.
A 5-year-old Italian girl has been left orphaned after her mother slipped off a snowy cliff during a hike and her father also fell while attempting to save her. The tragedy is reported to have occurred as the couple’s five year old daughter helplessly watched on.
The tragedy occurred Sunday in Carmonica Valley in the northern region of Lombardy, where the family from Milan was walking along with two friends, Italian media reported.
As the group was returning from the hike, they were forced to leave the trail because an avalanche had blocked part of it.
Valeria Coletta, 35, lost her footing and slipped toward the edge of the precipice before plummeting in front of her husband, Fabrizio Martino Marchi, 40, who tried to grab her before falling himself, according to Milan’s Corriere outlet.
The child who had been walking along with her parents witnessed her parents falling to their deaths. The girl was not reported to have been injured.
The trip was supposed to be an escape during the ongoing pandemic. The couple had chosen the weekend escape after knowing the area and having frequented it over the years .
The friends raised the alarm after they managed to make it safely back with the girl, who was handed over to her grandparents.
The parents’ bodies were later recovered by a helicopter that flew to the site from nearby Brescia. Police, firefighters and volunteers also took part in the effort to reach the tragic couple.
No foul play is suspected in the accident as an investigation continues.
