It was supposed to be just an exercise – and it turned into a real effort.
Zafferana Etnea – The Italian police discovered body parts in a small cave on the Etna volcano in Sicily.
The search and rescue dog Halma hit the narrow crevice near the municipality of Zafferana Etnea on the southeast side of the mountain during an exercise – a typical behavior when finding dead or injured people, the police said in Catania on Wednesday.
The officers found human remains in the cave. These indicated that the person must have died there decades ago. After initial investigations, investigators assumed that the man died between the late 1970s and the 1990s.
In this cave on Mount Etna, the police found human remains, clothing, shoes and lira coinsPhoto: Financial Police / dpa
In addition to clothes and shoes, the officials also found lira coins on him, the currency of Italy before the euro was introduced.
The identity of the deceased and why the man died was still unclear. The investigators ruled out a violent death for the time being.