8 Survivors Found at Site of Italy Hotel Destroyed by Avalanche
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Rescue workers in central Italy found eight survivors on Friday at the site of an isolated hotel that was destroyed by an avalanche, officials said, although at least 20 others are missing.
The first contact with the survivors came around 11 a.m. local time, more than a day after the Hotel Rigopiano in the Apennine Mountains was buried under tons of snow, dirt and trees.
The avalanche is believed to have been caused by a series of strong earthquakes in the region on Wednesday, and the chances of anyone surviving the harsh conditions and billowing snow had been considered remote.
A spokeswoman for the civil protection department, Titti Postiglione, said the news from the site of the hotel on Friday morning was “decidedly comforting,” and that rescue operations involving nearly three dozen people had continued overnight.
“It’s a very complex situation,” she said at a televised news conference, adding that the department’s avalanche experts were evaluating “potential risks to rescue operators.”
Television images showed ambulances rushing to the scene, which had been cut off by heavy snowfall, and snowplows clearing the road to the hotel, nestled in the Gran Sasso National Park, allowing through heavy machinery that would help rescue workers dig through the debris, the New York Times reported.
A video released by the civil protection department showed rescue workers lifting a boy out of the rubble, with what sounded like chain saws in the background, and there was applause after he was fully extricated.
Shortly afterward, a woman identified as the boy’s mother was also taken to safety, and rescue workers could be heard shouting “bravo.” She was then placed on a stretcher and carried out through a snow-covered area filled with rescue workers.
Early rescue efforts were slow, with the first help reaching the hotel early Thursday only after traveling more than five miles on skis and snowshoes. Improved weather conditions on Friday allowed helicopters carrying medics to travel to the hotel.
There was no additional information about the condition of the eight survivors, but Filippo Bubbico, the deputy interior minister, told a radio station that a young girl was among them. Italian news reports said at least some of the survivors had been found under part of the hotel’s roof.
Relatives of the missing waited for news at a hospital in the nearby town of Penne, in the province of Pescara.
Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said the rescue efforts had been hindered by “unprecedented” difficulties, citing the heaviest snowfall in decades and the strong earthquakes on Wednesday.
The Rigopiano, a four-star hotel, had 43 rooms. It was not clear how many guests were staying there at the time of the avalanche, although most estimates put the number at about 30.
