Firefighters work at the avalanche-hit hotel in Rigopiano, central Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017. Rescuers listened for signs of any more survivors, four days after an avalanche slammed into a resort hotel in Italys central Apennines mountains. Using saws, shovels and gloved hands, they advanced slowly through the wreckage in the search for some 23 missing guests and hotel workers and amid fears a fresh wall of snow could suddenly barrel down upon them. (Italian Firefighters Department via AP)
Rescue crews digging through an Italian hotel buried in an avalanche say there could be additional survivors more than three days after tons of snow came barreling down a mountainside.
Rescuers told reporters in the central Apennine mountains on Sunday morning there are air pockets in some of the Hotel Rigopiano’s wreckage. But they haven’t been able to reach all those areas yet.
Nine survivors from the Wednesday evening avalanche were located in air pockets inside the crushed hotel on Friday. Rescue officials say there are other spaces where some of the 23 people still missing might be found alive.
Rain is making the snow heavy and complicating the manual rescue operation. Officials say the risk of fresh avalanches is high.
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