[2Wycked]

An Italian spa resort was buried under a massive avalanche this morning, trapping or killing the around 30 people believed to be there:

Quote:

At least two people were killed and many others are feared dead after an avalanche buried a luxury hotel in central Italy following a series of earthquakes.

An estimated 30 people are believed to have been inside the Hotel Rigopiano spa resort when it was hit by an avalanche Wednesday night at the foot of the Gran Sasso mountain, Italy's Civil Protection Department said.

It based its estimate on guest registration and staff numbers, but said it was possible that some people had escaped before the avalanche hit.

Italian fire department spokesman Luca Cari, who is at the scene, told CNN that the hotel had been "completely slammed" in the avalanche and debris was scattered as far as 100 meters from the hotel structure, making the search area large.

The fire department said on Twitter at 4:30 p.m. that a second body had been pulled from the debris, 12 hours after rescuers reached the area.

Earlier, two people were rescued from the site of the hotel, Civil Protection Department chief Fabrizio Curcio told journalists, but rescuers using search dogs have otherwise seen no sign of life.

"We are calling out but no one is answering," rescuers told Italian state media ANSA.

Firefighters told ANSA the hotel had been "swept away" and buried by tons of snow, and that there was mostly uprooted trees and debris at the hotel site.
An elderly farmer also died in the same region of Abruzzo on Wednesday when his barn collapsed.

Rescuers ski to disaster zone

Video recorded by rescue teams shows what appears to be a smashed wall or window in the four-star hotel's lobby, with tree branches, snow and other debris piled on the floor.

Curcio explained that dealing with earthquakes and an avalanche at the same time caused difficulties in the rescue operation and even confusion among the affected population over how to respond.

"For the weather, you tell people to stay in their homes, while for the earthquake, citizens must be brought outside. Putting together these two elements is extremely complicated," he said.

Rescuers battled blizzards and strong winds to reach the site, some having to ski for several kilometers in the darkness to get there because some roads were impassable.

When they arrived, they found only the building's top story and roof visible above the snow, Italy's Mountain Rescue Service said on social media. It also posted a picture of rescuers digging for survivors.

Italy's fire department posted a photo on Twitter showing rescuers being dropped into the area by helicopter.

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said the amount of this week's snowfall in the country is something that hasn't been seen in decades.

CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller said heavy snowfall in the last 24 hours measured 70 centimeters (nearly 28 inches) and over the past week, snow accumulations were more than 3 meters (about 10 feet) in the mountains. The risk of more avalanches is high, he said.

"The recent, historic snowfalls have created a very loose and unstable snowpack, which is why the avalanche danger is high on all steep slopes."

Rescue efforts ongoing

Rescuers were still trying to get to other areas isolated by the avalanche, Gentiloni said, and authorities were hoping to bring power back to as many as 90,000 people who were left in darkness overnight from the extreme weather.
Central Italy was rocked by more than 10 earthquakes Wednesday, four of them above magnitude 5, according to the US Geological Survey.

An initial 5.3-magnitude quake hit in the morning near the town of of Amatrice, which was devastated by powerful earthquakes in August. The tremors continued for more than six hours, with one as strong as magnitude 5.7.

While the epicenter was 90 kilometers northeast of Rome, the quake was felt in the capital, sending people running from buildings in a panic.

All the aftershocks hit around Amatrice, in the mountainous regions of Marche, Lazio and Abruzzo.

Nearly 300 people died in the August earthquakes in central Italy around Amatrice, leaving its town center -- once popular with tourists -- reduced to rubble.

Have there been more avalanches than normal this year? I posted more footage of avalanches here a couple weeks ago. Crazy stuff!

[Serious Sam]

Wow, what an awful tragedy. It sounds like it was the wrong mixture of earthquakes and abnormally heavy snowfall that led to this.

Quote:

“Help,” one couple wrote after their hotel was buried in an earthquake-triggered avalanche, “we’re dying of cold.”

Some people got out text messages to emergency services to alert them. But now that rescuers are there, they're getting nothing but silence.

[Ski pro]

As part of my work we train for stuff like this, how to avoid avalanches being safe off piste etc, but you can't account for one triggered by an earthquake. Terrible news.

As for the snow that came in through the hotel, it will be a miracle if anyone survives. If you don't get killed by the sheer size of the stuff coming in, you get crushed by the snow as it sets like concrete around you. Would be terrible in a tight space.

RIP all, terrible accident.

[Cr33pin]

Awful to hear about..... One day you're out on vacation enjoying life with close friends and loved ones, then unforeseen circumstances occur an thats it... you punch your ticket and you're gone.

Live as much as you can while you can an never take anything for granted, including life.

RIP to those lost.

[Mrredsquare]

Eight people found alive including two children great news.

[2Wycked]

(01-20-2017 09:27 AM)Mrredsquare Wrote:  

Eight people found alive including two children great news.

Thanks for the update. It is great news, indeed:

Quote:

Survivors pulled out of the rubble of an avalanche-crushed hotel in central Italy were met with cheers of joy and relief as rescue crews continued to dig out in search of others on Friday.

Ten people were found alive two days after the massive snow slide buried around 30 people at the four-star Hotel Rigopiano. Crews pulled out five of the 10, including four children, and were working to save the other five people, Civil Protection Chief Fabrizio Curcio said.

Video released by rescuers showed a boy, wearing blue snow pants and a matching ski shirt, emerging from the structure through a snow hole. Emergency crews mussed his hair in celebration.

“Bravo! Bravo!” they cheered.

Next came a woman with a long ponytail wearing red snow pants, appearing fully alert. Both were helped to a stretcher for the helicopter ride out.

"This first news has obviously repaid all the rescuers' efforts," said Italy's deputy interior minister, Filippo Bubbico.

The woman and boy were identified as Adriana Vranceanu, 43 and Gianfilippo, 8, who were reunited with husband and father Giampiero Parete, at the hospital in the nearby city of Pescara, ANSA news agency and state-run RAI radio said. Parete had survived Wednesday’s avalanche because it had struck when he was out getting medicine from his car.

Rescuers said the mother indicated her 6-year-old daughter Ludovica was also alive amid the debris nearby. Rescue workers immediately set to work to find her, too.

Their rescue was met with exhilaration since at least four people had already been found dead after the avalanche hit Wednesday afternoon and dumped up to 16½ feet of snow on the luxury hotel, 112 miles northeast of Rome.

About 30 people were trapped inside the hotel in the Gran Sasso mountain range when the avalanche hit Wednesday after days of winter storms that dumped nearly 10 feet of snow in some places. The region was also rocked by four earthquakes on Wednesday but it was not clear if any of those set off the avalanche.

The number of survivors has been uncertain throughout the emergency, including exactly how many people are buried inside the hotel.

Rescue crews said one group of survivors had been found in the hotel's kitchen area, and had survived thanks to an air pocket that formed when reinforced cement walls partially resisted the avalanche's violent power.

"It's probable that they realized the risk and took protective measures," Romano said.

Those being rescued were in remarkably good condition and were being flown to area hospitals, rescue workers said.

Two bodies were recovered on the first day of searching and RAI state TV reported that two other bodies had been located but not yet removed.

The operation has been hampered by difficulty in accessing the remote hotel. Workers have been clearing a 5.5-mile road to bring in heavier equipment, but the mountain road can handle only one-way traffic and is covered not only by 10 feet of snow but fallen trees and rocks.

Prosecutors have opened a manslaughter investigation into the tragedy and are looking into whether the avalanche threat was taken seriously enough, according to Italian media.

Farindola Mayor Ilario Lacchetta said the hotel had 24 guests, four of them children, and 12 employees onsite at the time of the avalanche.

An Alpine rescue team was the first to arrive at the hotel on cross-country skis after a journey of more than 4 miles that took two hours. They found Parete, a guest who escaped the avalanche when he went to his car to get something, and Fabio Salzetta, a hotel maintenance worker, in a car in the resort's parking lot.

Parete was taken to a hospital while Salzetta stayed behind to help rescuers identify where guests might be buried and how crews could enter the buildings.

The mountainous region of central Italy has been struck by a series of quakes since August that destroyed homes and historic centers in dozens of towns and hamlets. A deadly quake in August killed nearly 300 people. No one died in strong aftershocks in the region in October, largely because towns had already been evacuated.

Here is a video of survivors being pulled to safety:

As it has been said before, even in the midst of life, we are in death. Good to know that some of the unlucky were able to escape with their lives.

[Teutatis]

Poor people, horrible news, as someone who suffers from a bit of claustrophobia the thought alone of dying like this is horrifying.