Chilling pictures shows three friends sharing a hug before being swept to their deaths in flood
This was the moment three friends embraced before firefighters “watched them disappear” in torrential flooding.
Patrizia Cormos, 20, Bianca Doros, 23, and Bianca’s boyfriend Cristian Molnar, 25, had gone to the beach for a walk and ended up alongside a river that had swelled after days of heavy rain.
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Chilling footage shows the three’s last moments as they hold onto one another thigh deep in the gushing water by the Natisone River near Udine in Friuli, north east Italy on Friday. Moments later they were overcome by the force of the deluge.
Patrizia’s family said the three had decided to take a walk at the nearby beach of Premariacco after the 20-year-old did an exam at the city’s Academy of Fine Arts. The sun had come out after days of heavy rain although a weather warning had been issued for flash floods in the area.
Patrizia’s mother told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera the three had gone for a drive after Patrizia completed an exam, heading to Premariacco Beach close to the Slovenia border. She said: “I had told her not to go, because she was tired.
“But she said ‘we are just going to hang out for a bit and take some photos. Come on mum, don’t be angry’.”
Premariacco town mayor Michele De Sabata said the friends arrived in good weather and couldn’t have predicted the tragedy which would unfold.
“They found themselves in an unpredictable situation,” he said. “Those who live in Premariacco know the river and how conditions can change quickly. The three kids arrived when it was sunny. They could not have known what was about to happen. It only took minutes.”
Patrizia’s phone, which was later found in her bag on the river bed, revealed the three had made a desperate SOS call at around 1.35pm on Friday. The trio were seen desperately holding onto one another on a tiny islet in the river as a rescue mission was deployed.
Firefighters urged the friends to stay together while they threw them a rope, but all three were carried away by the current.
Giorgio Basile, the chief of the provincial firefighters in Udine, said: “We threw them a rope, but they were literally swallowed up by the flood waters in front of our eyes. We watched them disappear.”
Two bodies were found on Sunday, AP reports. They are believed to be Patrizia and Bianca. The search continues for Mr Molnar.
The region has been hit by devastating floods in recent days following torrential rain. Similar flooding has also struck in Bavaria, Germany, with reports one 42-year-old firefighter died over the weekend while trying to rescue those trapped.
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