A complex nocturnal rescue operation, which ended only at the crack of dawn, made it possible to save 19 young university students missing in the Peloritani Mountains, in the Messina area. The boys, surprised by the darkness in an inaccessible area between Pizzo Bottino and the Forra Tinta waterfall, were no longer able to continue their journey.
The group left on Saturday morning with the aim of reaching some waterfalls in the area. As darkness fell, the young people lost orientation and correctly alerted the emergency services via the single emergency number NUE112. The call was handled by the 118 Operations Center of Messina, which activated the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps (CNSAS) of Sicily.
Students from Russia and several former Soviet republics of Central Asia, aged between 19 and 25. They were without food, water and clothing or footwear appropriate for the temperatures and mountain environment. The recovery operations were made particularly difficult by the conditions of the area. The teams from the Etna Nord and Etna Sud stations, together with the Alpine Rescue soldiers of the Guardia di Finanza, were forced to abandon their off-road vehicles due to several landslides which interrupted traffic.
The technicians then continued on foot, reaching the missing at around 01:30 on Serra Cammarosa, in an exceptionally inaccessible area far from the beaten track. After being refreshed, the boys were accompanied along a tiring return journey towards the Lupo Refuge.
During the operations, a girl suffered health problems and was urgently evacuated to an ambulance for immediate treatment. The rest of the group was taken to the hamlet of Santo Stefano Medio, where further health checks were carried out before being transferred to the Carabinieri of Messina Sud.