Italian-Swiss couple missing in Nepal after flood: Patrizia Marziale and Luca Baracchini
Quick Look
- The Italian-Swiss couple formed by Patrizia Marziale and Luca Baracchini are missing in Nepal following a flood.
- Residents in Lugano, he is consumer & digital director at Deloitte, she is a top athlete in the Hac Lugano field hockey team.
- The couple, passionate about travel, music and sports, had documented their trip to Tibet and Nepal on Facebook until August 22, four days before the disaster.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Patrizia Marziale and Luca Baracchini are an Italian-Swiss couple living in Lugano, passionate about travel, sport and music. He works at Deloitte as consumer & digital director, she is a top athlete in the Hac Lugano field hockey team. Over the years they have taken numerous trips together, including the Dominican Republic, Maldives, Japan and New York. The trip to Tibet and Nepal was a long dreamed of destination.
Love, sport, music and above all the discovery of the world: these are the ingredients of the life together of Patrizia Marziale and Luca Baracchini, the Italian-Swiss couple, lost in the Nepalese tragedy. In Lugano, the city where they live, Luca is director of consumer & digital at Deloitte, a multinational consultancy and auditing company, with decades of experience in the digital transition and e-commerce sectors. Patrizia is one of the leading athletes in the local Hac Lugano field hockey team: a sport that for her has always also represented an extraordinary network of friendships, including sports trips and leisure holidays with her teammates.
There is a common thread that unites Patrizia and Luca: music. Concerts are one of the unmissable experiences.
Jovanotti's performance on 21 September 2019 at Linate Airport was unforgettable: "What a memory and what a crazy concert! Great fun", writes Patrizia on Facebook. A love for notes that also deeply binds her to her son Enrico, an established producer in the Swiss techno music scene.
The great itinerary between Tibet, Nepal and the Himalayas, a special journey in 12 stages between Lhasa and Kathmandu, represents only the last stage in a long series of adventures experienced as a couple. One year ago in the Dominican Republic, in 2024 in the Maldives, the year before in Japan, in 2022 in New York.
But this year's experience on the 'roof of the world' is the experience they have dreamed of and prepared for the longest. The last trace of them on Facebook dates back to 3.48am on August 22, four days before the flood hit Nepal. Ten photo shots published on Facebook in front of the Potala Palace, the Jokhang Temple and along Barkhor Street, in the heart of Lhasa. Accompanying the images is Patrizia's sunny phrase: "Ask me if I'm happy... Yes".
In addition to Barachini and Marziale, there is still no news of a third Italian, Marco Ratto, a goldsmith from Rapallo.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Official updates on the search for the missing will be released in the coming days
Very likely · Within days
Open Questions
- What was the exact fate of Patrizia Marziale and Luca Baracchini after the flood?
- Was there any rescue or search carried out to find them?
- What is the current situation of Marco Ratto, the third missing Italian?
- Which authorities are involved in the search operations?
