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Dozens Missing, Including 4 Children, After Italy Avalanche

by VOA News

   Italian rescue workers dug all night in deep snow and debris, and are
   continuing their search efforts Friday looking for some 30 missing
   people, including four children, staying at a luxury mountain resort in
   central Italy struck by an avalanche Wednesday.

   The avalanche that hit the four-star Hotel Rigopiano in the town of
   Farindole was likely triggered by a series of strong earthquakes that
   rattled the central region of Abruzzo earlier in the day.

   Television footage from the inside of the wrecked hotel showed massive
   mounds of snow pushing through a hotel wall into the lobby.

   Officials have confirmed finding two bodies, while Italian media said
   two more were located overnight. The only survivors so far are two men
   who were outside the hotel when the avalanche struck.

   News outlets had earlier reported that many people had been killed in
   the disaster, but local officials have not confirmed those reports.

   An investigation into the tragedy has been opened by a court in
   Pescara, with some saying the emergency response was slow. The first
   rescuers arrived amid a snow storm on skis early Thursday morning, some
   11 hours after the avalanche hit.