Double- Δ (1232) formation following pion absorption in and above the 3.3 resonance region is shown to provide an important absorption mechanism for heavy nuclei, if the ΔN → ΔΔ interaction behaves according to SU (4) quark model rules. The ΔΔ configuration is formed preferentially in T = 2 states and decays predominantly by emission of four nucleons, unlike the standard πNN → ΔN → NN two-nucleon process. We show that this mechanism is able to explain some of the striking features observed in proton emission spectra following π ±-nucleus absorption in the Δ region.