Death toll in Italian avalanche razed hotel rises to 29

Elesho Richard

January 26, 2017

Enjoying this story? Read the full magazine — archive back to 1993.

Rescue workers work with excavator at the site of the avalanche-buried Hotel Rigopiano in Farindola, central Italy, hit by an avalanche, in this undated picture released on January 24, 2017 provided by Alpine and Speleological Rescue Team. Soccorso Alpino Speleologico Lazio/Handout via REUTERS

Rescuers have pulled the last two dead bodies from the wreckage of a hotel in Farindola, Central Italy, raising the final death toll to 29, the national fire brigade said.

The hotel was razed by an avalanche last week.

With the discovery on Wednesday night of the bodies of one man and one woman, everyone known to have been at the Hotel Rigopiano, when it was flattened, has now been accounted for.

Eleven people survived the disaster, which struck in the wake of heavy snowstorms and several powerful earthquakes on Jan. 18.

Prosecutors have opened a probe into the tragedy.

Many guests had wanted to leave the hotel but were unable to do so because the access road was blocked by snow.

(Reuters/NAN)