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4 more rescued from snowed-in Italian hotel

FARINDOLA, Italy — Five people have been confirmed dead at the hotel demolished by an avalanche in central Italy this week, and nine survivors have been pulled from the rubble, including four more people on Saturday,

reported.

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The two men and two women were freed from the Hotel Rigopiano overnight after hours of digging by firemen, who were having to move cautiously for fear the buried air pockets might collapse.

Four children and a woman were saved Friday, dug out from under tons of snow and debris.
Fire service spokesman Luca Cari told Reuters the bodies of two women also were recovered, bringing the known death toll to four. Approximately 15 people remain unaccounted for, Cari said. Nearly thirty people were inside the hotel, officials said.

The hotel, located in the town of Farindola, was ripped from its foundation and almost completely covered by a wall of snow and debris up to 35 feet tall, triggered by a series of earthquakes that shook the region Wednesday, USA Today reported.

Italian media reported early Saturday that a number of other voices had been heard under the rubble, but that it was proving hard to establish where exactly they were, Reuters reported. There was no immediate confirmation of this from the emergency services.

Cari said that rescue teams would continue to work night and day until everyone was accounted for.