‘30 DEAD’ IN ITALIAN HOTEL AVALANCHE HORROR
DESPERATE guests trapped in an Italian hotel hit by an avalanche sent text messages for help as 30 people were feared killed when the building was crushed.
One message, understood to have been sent from inside the Hotel Rigopiano in Abruzzo, central Italy, read “help, help, we are dying of the cold”.
Messages of reassurance were then sent back – urging those inside to “be calm”.
The avalanche was triggered by a series of earthquakes which struck on Wednesday night.
Emergency teams battled the conditions overnight and were forced to reach the hotel by skis after snow blocked the road.
Further tremors have been reported in the area and rescuers said at least 20 tourists and seven staff were still trapped inside.
At 9.30am yesterday one person was pulled dead from the snow, said to be 15ft deep.
A further two bodies have since been retrieved.
A statement from Fabrizio Curcio, head of Italy’s civil protection department, said: “Around 30 people are unaccounted for, between guests and workers at the Hotel Rigopiano in Farindola.”
Unity
Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has called for national unity.
He said the country had been caught in an “unprecedented vice” of earthquakes and heavy snow simultaneously.
One official said there were “many dead” in the four star spa hotel, whose roof partly collapsed.
Children are feared to be among the victims.
Two men found alive outside the damaged building were taken to hospital, with one suffering from hypothermia.
The landslide tore through the lobby wall of the hotel, which was covered with oil paintings and decorated with plants.
Mattresses and furniture were found strewn around the scene.
Rescue crews cried out to survivors but there was no response.
Sniffer dogs have been drafted in to help with the search.
Mountain rescue team leader Antonio Crocetta said: “There are many deaths. The structure has collapsed.
“The hotel is almost completely destroyed. It is now more like a pile of rubble. What is left is also in danger of collapse.”
Referring to the bid to save survivors, he said: “We called out but heard no replies, no voices. We’re still digging and looking for people.”
Survivor Giampiero Parete said quite by chance he had gone to get something from his car when the hotel was struck.
He said: “I was covered by the snow but managed to get out.
“The car was not submerged and I waited for rescuers to arrive.” However, he said his wife and two children were still trapped inside the rubble.
The first of the rescuers reached the scene at 4am yesterday.
The civil protection agency has tried to get rescue vehicles close to the scene.
An ambulance arrived a few miles away but could not reach the building. Luca Cari, a spokesman for the national fire brigade, said: “We’re dropping our rescue units by helicopter. They are starting to dig.”
An earthquake hit the region on August 24, when 298 died, and a further quake was reported in October, without fatalities.
Cold weather and snowstorms have continued to hit the area.