Beds turn into coffins as avalanche hits Italian hotel

Author: app/afp

ROME: Several children were among the missing on Thursday after a devastating avalanche buried an Italian mountain hotel with more than 25 people believed to be trapped inside.

The prospects of anyone being rescued alive from the ill-fated Hotel Rigopiano were bleak, as rescue efforts were hampered by heavy snow that had blocked access roads to the remote site. The three-storey building was hit by a two-metre high wall of snow late on Wednesday afternoon. The first rescue workers only reached the remote site in the early hours of Thursday and it was midday by the time a snow plough and the first mechanical excavation equipment got there.

As many as 35 firemen and sniffer dogs combed the rubble; officials said one body had been recovered. “We are trying our best to recover other bodies,” said fire service spokesman Luca Cari. When asked if there was any hope of survivors, he said, “You never know. The building was basically run over by the avalanche leaving it buried. I saw mattresses that had been dragged for hundreds of metres, which shows how big the search area is. There are tonnes of snow, tree trunks and all kinds of detritus.”

Italian television showed images of piles of masonry and rubble in the entrance area of what they dubbed a ‘coffin hotel’.

Share
Leave a Comment

Recent Posts

  • Pakistan

Parliament passes bills on military chiefs tenure extension, SC expansion

The National Assembly on Monday passed six bills, including one seeking an increase in the…

10 hours ago
  • Pakistan

SBP cuts key policy rate by 250bps to 15pc

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced on Monday that it had decided to cut…

18 hours ago
  • Pakistan

Verdict reserved on Imran, wife’s bail pleas in 7 cases

The district and sessions court in Islamabad on Monday reserved its verdict on bail pleas…

18 hours ago
  • Pakistan

Six terrorists killed in two KP operations

At least six terrorists were killed by the security forces in two separation operations in…

18 hours ago
  • Pakistan

Punjab has no plan to buy PIA, clarifies minister

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari on Monday said that the provincial government had "no intentions"…

18 hours ago
  • World

Israeli strikes kill 10 in Gaza, keep up pressure on north

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 10 Palestinians in Gaza, with seven dead in an attack…

18 hours ago