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Italy avalanche: 'Up to 30' found dead in hotel after quake Italy earthquakes: Many feared dead in hotel buried by avalanche
(35 minutes later)
A number of people were killed in a small hotel hit by an avalanche in the mountains of central Italy after a series of earthquakes, reports say. Thirty people are missing after an avalanche buried a small hotel in the mountains of central Italy after a series of earthquakes, authorities say. 
Up to 30 people were believed to be in the hotel when the avalanche hit on Wednesday night, officials said. Italian media said the avalanche covered the three-storey hotel in Abruzzo, an earthquake-hit zone of central Italy, on Wednesday evening.
SkyTG24 television said some dead were found inside the Hotel Rigopiano in the town of Farindola on the Gran Sasso mountain in the central Abruzzo region. The civil protection agency said it is working to get emergency vehicles to the Hotel Rigopiano, in the town of Farindola, through roads covered in snow, joining initial rescue efforts overnight by alpine rescue squads.
On its website, Italian news agency Ansa quoted the head of a rescue squad that reached the hotel as saying "there are many dead." Italian news agency Ansa quoted the head of a rescue squad that reached the hotel as saying "there are many dead," but further details weren't immediately available.
No further details were immediately available. Mountain rescue teams reached the hotel by skis around 4am (3am GMT), SKY TG24 reported.
Video footage showed rescuers with shovels digging through a wall of snow, and at least one man being led through the cleared path.
An ambulance was blocked several kilometers from the hotel, Sky reported. 
The president of Pescara province wrote on Facebook that there were 20 guests at the hotel when it was covered by the avalanche, about 30 miles from the coastal city of Pescara.
Early media reports said up to 30 dead bodies were found.
A spate of strong earthquakes hit central Italy on Wednesday.A spate of strong earthquakes hit central Italy on Wednesday.
Four magnitude 5.2 and higher quakes struck near the hill town of Amatrice, some 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Rome, in the space of four hours. Much of the area had already been abandoned after last year's earthquakes.Four magnitude 5.2 and higher quakes struck near the hill town of Amatrice, some 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Rome, in the space of four hours. Much of the area had already been abandoned after last year's earthquakes.
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