Tragic Hiking Accident in Swiss Alps Claims Life of 14-Year-Old Italian Soccer Player

Karim Damir Larbi, 14, is no more. On Sunday, the young footballer residing in the province of Varese fell about a hundred meters - from a steep slope that, from the Scaletta hut, at 2,200 meters, allows you to descend to the Val Blenio (TI) - during a hike he was doing with a group in the canton of Ticino and died on the spot. Two other boys of the same age as him - including a young Swiss who came to help them - were seriously injured and were transported by helicopter to the hospital, reports the Ticino cantonal police. Their vital prognosis is engaged. Karim and one of the injured boys were part of a group of about twenty people, a spokesman for the Ticino police told the Keystone ATS agency. "The boys were on an unsuitable path for travel," explains the head of the Ticino trails association.

"We want to know how it was possible, how it happened. We want the police to clarify why his death is a big problem. A huge tragedy for our family," Karim’s father has requested. "The point where the fall occurred is not a path but a trail, a kind of shortcut to reach the valley. It is not marked on the maps. In these parts we call them ’chamois trails’: they are not," explains Federico Cattaneo, technical manager of the cantonal association "Ticino Trails".

The Swiss authorities have opened an investigation to elucidate the accident, in particular the death of the boy and the serious injuries of two other teenagers.