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THE
partial thawing of a glacier in north-eastern Italy as
the result of a heatwave has revealed a "city of
ice" which Austro-Hungarian troops built inside it
during the First World War.
Signs
of an often talked about but never before seen nest of
bunkers, barracks, cells, corridors and storage areas
have come to light on one side of the Marmolada glacier
in the Dolomites. Close by, fortifications built by the
Italians to fight the Austro-Hungarians have also begun
to appear.
Reports
said the appearance of the city of ice and other wartime
remains was the result of sustained temperatures of 50F
(10C) at about 10,000ft above sea level, and probably
also global warming.
On
Monday the skeleton of a First World War soldier was found
8,850ft up on the Adamello glacier, near Vedretta di Lares,
in Trentino. Last September another soldier's skeleton,
complete with his cap and equipment, turned up on the
nearby Presanella glacier.
In
Adamello, 20,000 First World War bombs, 13,000 of them
cantaining poison gas, have come to light. So far 6,300
have been dealt with. A similar retreat of glaciers on
Mont Blanc has recently uncovered pieces of Italian artillery
dating from the Second World War and parts of an Air India
Boeing 707 which crashed there in 1966.
Thawing
in the Similaun glacier, north-west of Bolzano, led to
the discovery in 1991 of a hunter who had lived 5,300
years ago.
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