Italy avalanche rescuers: weve called out but heard no replies, no voices

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian and agencies

Italy avalanche rescuers: we’ve called out but heard no replies, no voices

Up to 30 people missing at hotel in Abruzzo ski resort after
avalanche buries building following series of earthquakes

Angela Giuffrida in Rome and agencies
Thursday 19 January 2017 17.54 GMT

Barely 24 hours earlier, the management of the hotel in the picturesque Italian ski resort of Farindola, three hours east of Rome, had tweeted: “A dream Tuesday ... The snow is giving us spectacular scenery!”

But by Thursday afternoon authorities held out little hope of finding anyone left alive after an avalanche buried the four-storey building with its eight staff and 20 guests, including several children, inside.

They were reported to have assembled on the ground floor on Wednesday awaiting an evacuation after a series of earthquakes had rocked the area during the day, but it was delayed because of the bad weather. Then the avalanche hit.

Amid treacherous weather conditions, rescue workers and sniffer dogs continued their search on Thursday at the four-star Rigopiano hotel in the lower Gran Sasso mountain range of the central Abruzzo region.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/19/italy-earthquakes-avalanche-hotel

[Warpy]

1. This is so very sad

but should exist as a cautionary tale to the Trump minority calling us "snowflakes:" we can and will bury them.

The inability to mount a rapid rescue undoubtedly contributed to the loss of life.