Death toll continues to rise after Italy avalanche
January 24, 2017
At least 14 people have been confirmed dead after last week's avalanche on Gran Sasso mountain. According to Italian officials, 15 guests and staff members remain missing in the Rigopiano hotel.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/ANSA/Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino
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Almost a week since an avalanche plowed into the Rigopiano hotel in central Italy, officials have confirmed that five more bodies have been pulled from the ruins, bringing the death toll to 14. Elevenpeople have been rescued since the disaster- four of them children - while 15 guests and staff members remain missing.
120,000-tons of snow
Located the lower sections of the Gran Sasso mountain, Hotel Rigopiano was buried under five meters (16.4 feet) of snow Wednesday, hours after four magnitude five earthquakes hit the Abruzzo region.
Some 120,000 tons of snow barreled down a mountain, tore through a forest, and engulfed the hotel at a speed of about 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour). The force of the avalanche moved parts of the hotel some 10 meters (33 feet) from where they originally stood.
The news on Tuesday came just a day after firefighters succeeded in breaking down a wall in the hotel and pulling three puppies to safety.
Despite the discovery of three puppies beneath the avalanche, hopes of finding more survivors are dwindlingImage: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Italian Firefighters
Fire services spokesman Luca Cari, stressed, however, that the discovery of the puppies didn't necessarily signal any new hope for finding human survivors.
"We're happy to have saved them, and these are important moments in a dramatic situation," he said. "But I don't think there's much correlation with finding other people."
The seven-week-old puppies are the offspring of hotel mascots Nuvola - meaning Cloud, and Lupo - meaning Wolf - both of whom fled to safety into the valley below the hotel on the day the avalanche struck.
Orphaned survivor
Five of the first survivors to be rescued were also released from hospital on Monday including a family of four. It was Giampiero Parete - the father of the family - who first sounded the alarm after he left the hotel by chance to go to his car, moments before the avalanche hit.
Still hospitalized were one adult and two children, Samuel Di Michelangelo and Edoardo Di Carlo. Officials have confirmed that Edoardo's parents were killed, while Samuel's remain unaccounted for.
Italy thrashed by avalanches, earthquakes and snowfall
An avalanche has buried a hotel in the Italian region of Abruzzo. Authorities fear many of the tourists and staff members have been killed by the natural disaster, which comes on the heels of four powerul earthquakes.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/E. Vandeville
Buried under snow
An avalanche buried the Riopiano hotel (bottom right), the only one in the Gran Sasso National Park, with up to 30 guests and staff members inside. Despite efforts to rescue survivors, emergency services responding to the disaster reported no signs of life in the three-storey building.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca
An impossible trek
It took more than two hours for rescue teams to reach the buried hotel. Up to four meters of snow blocked the way, forcing fire fighters and civil protection personnel to figure out different ways through. First responders traveled by helipcopter, while others made the journey overland using cross-country skis.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Ansa/M. Guidelli
'Many dead'
The force of the avalanche moved parts of the hotel about ten meters (33 feet) from where it originally stood. After breaking through the wall of snow and entering the hotel, rescuers warned that there could be "many dead." At least three bodies have been pulled out. Two survivors escaped when they left the building minutes before the avalanche.
While emergency services created camps to base their search operations, heavy snow continued to fall. A national fire rescue spokesman told DW that they would continue to move forward with their operations, despite the weather. Other parts of the region experienced up to four meters of snow, knocking down powerlines and leaving thousands of people without heat or light.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Ropi
Rescue efforts elsewhere
In other parts of the Abruzzo region and its surrounding areas in Marche and Lazio, authorities worked together to rescue isolated individuals, trapped in their homes due to the snow. In Campotosto, the government deployed the military to assist with the evacuation of certain houses. Rescue efforts were intensified in the wake of four powerful earthquakes that shook the region.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Latta
A year of disasters
In Amatrice and nearby areas, where nearly 300 people were killed in a devastating earthquake in August, heavy snow and earthquakes continued to unsetlle the ruined village. Former residents, housed in temporary shelters nearby, have considered vacating for good due to the harsh winter and tremors that continue to plague the area.
