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Italy earthquakes: many feared dead after avalanche hits hotel Italy avalanche: many feared dead as Rigopiano hotel engulfed
(about 1 hour later)
Up to 30 people are missing with many feared dead after an avalanche struck a hotel in a central Italian ski resort after a series of earthquakes. Up to 30 people are missing with many feared dead after an avalanche engulfed a ski resort hotel in the Abruzzo region of central Italy, which has been rattled by a series of earthquakes.
About 20-30 guests had been staying at the Rigopiano hotel in the town of Farindola, in the lower Gran Sasso mountain range, when the avalanche struck on Wednesday night.About 20-30 guests had been staying at the Rigopiano hotel in the town of Farindola, in the lower Gran Sasso mountain range, when the avalanche struck on Wednesday night.
“Many are dead,” Antonio Crocetta, head of a team of Alpine rescuers in the Abruzzo region, said. No further details were available. Rescuers battled through blizzard conditions on skis to reach the hotel, located 1,200 metres above sea level, at about 4am.
Rescuers managed to reach the hotel, located 1,200 metres above sea level, on skis amid treacherous weather conditions at about 4am. “We haven’t been able to do too much. The structure has collapsed. It’s more like a pile of rubble than a hotel,” said Antonio Crocetta, a member of the Alpine Rescue squad that was on the scene.
The civil protection agency said on Thursday it was trying to get rescue vehicles to the stricken hotel through roads covered in snow. “What is left of the hotel is in danger of collapse. The hotel is almost completely destroyed. We’ve called out but we’ve heard no replies, no voices. We’re digging and looking for people,” he told Reuters by telephone.
Video footage shows rescuers digging through a wall of snow, and at least one man being led through the cleared path. The civil protection agency said it was trying to get rescue vehicles to the stricken hotel through roads covered in snow. A base camp for rescue workers was set up in the town of Penne, about 6 miles away, where ambulances waited for earth-moving vehicles to clear the winding, snow-clogged road leading to the hotel.
Video footage shot from inside the hotel showed piles of snow and rubble cascading down the stairway into the foyer. Rescuers were also filmed digging through a wall of snow, and leading at least one man away through the cleared path.
Two people, one suffering from hypothermia, had survived because they were outside of the building when the avalanche hit.Two people, one suffering from hypothermia, had survived because they were outside of the building when the avalanche hit.
Giampaolo Parete, 38, told doctors he had gone to collect something from his car, leaving his wife and children inside, the Ansa news agency reported. Giampaolo Parete, 38, told doctors he survived because he had gone to collect something from his car, leaving his wife and children inside, the Ansa news agency reported.
The body of one victim has been removed from the building.The body of one victim has been removed from the building.
Central Italy was struck by four earthquakes on Wednesday, measuring between 5.1 and 5.7 magnitude.Central Italy was struck by four earthquakes on Wednesday, measuring between 5.1 and 5.7 magnitude.
An 82-year-old man died after the roof of a farm building in Castel Castagna, a town in the Abruzzo province of Teramo, collapsed on him.An 82-year-old man died after the roof of a farm building in Castel Castagna, a town in the Abruzzo province of Teramo, collapsed on him.
A mother and her child were pulled from rubble in the same area, while the search for a 60-year-old man, buried under snow in nearby Campotosto, was called off on Wednesday night.A mother and her child were pulled from rubble in the same area, while the search for a 60-year-old man, buried under snow in nearby Campotosto, was called off on Wednesday night.
Three farmers were also reported to be missing.Three farmers were also reported to be missing.
The civil protection agency has warned of further avalanches, with its chief saying the situation remains critical.The civil protection agency has warned of further avalanches, with its chief saying the situation remains critical.
“Bad weather and earthquakes in the same area have made it an extremely complicated situation,” Fabrizio Curcio said. “But a minute has not been lost and all the necessary rescue resources will continue to be put in place.” “Bad weather and earthquakes in the same area have made it a complicated situation,” Fabrizio Curcio said, adding a little later that authorities were confronting “two exceptional events that that already alone would have created great difficulty in the response”.
For the heavy snowfall, Curcio said “we try to tell people to stay in their own homes, if they are secure, obviously. And in the areas of quakes, people should leave their homes. Putting together these two elements is extremely complicated.”
The quakes struck close to Amatrice, one of the towns destroyed by an earthquake in August that left almost 300 people dead and thousands homeless.The quakes struck close to Amatrice, one of the towns destroyed by an earthquake in August that left almost 300 people dead and thousands homeless.
The bell tower of the Sant’Agostino church, the last monument to survive last summer’s quake, collapsed after the first quake on Wednesday morning, according to local news reports.The bell tower of the Sant’Agostino church, the last monument to survive last summer’s quake, collapsed after the first quake on Wednesday morning, according to local news reports.
Reuters contributed to this report