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'Many dead' in avalanche on Italy hotel in the Abruzzo Italy avalanche: 'Many dead' in hotel Rigopiano in Abruzzo
(35 minutes later)
An Italian rescue official has said that a number of people have been killed after a hotel was hit by an avalanche, apparently triggered by an earthquake on Wednesday.An Italian rescue official has said that a number of people have been killed after a hotel was hit by an avalanche, apparently triggered by an earthquake on Wednesday.
Rescuers battled overnight to reach the hotel close to the Gran Sasso mountain in the Abruzzo region.Rescuers battled overnight to reach the hotel close to the Gran Sasso mountain in the Abruzzo region.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. "There are many deaths," Antonio Crocetta, the head of a mountain rescue team, was quoted as saying.
If you want to receive Breaking News alerts via email, or on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App then details on how to do so are available on this help page. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts. Up to 30 people were in the Rigopiano hotel at the time of the avalanche.
The roof partly collapsed and local residents in Farindola alerted emergency services. But a snowstorm and blocked routes made access to the hotel difficult and Italian media said the first rescuers only reached the hotel on skis at 04:00 (03:00 GMT) on Thursday.
Rescuers said at least 20 tourists and seven staff had been inside the Rigopiano hotel when it was hit by the avalanche.
The mountainous region of Central Italy was hit by a succession of four earthquakes on Wednesday and further tremors were reported overnight.
The quakes came after the regions of Abruzzo, Marche and Lazio were hit by days of heavy snow. Many villages became inaccessible and emergency services worked through the night into Thursday to reach them.
It was already known that one person had died and another was reported missing.
The same region was hit by an earthquake on 24 August, when 298 people died.