Last bodies recovered from avalanche-hit Italian hotel

Farindola (Italy), Jan 27 (IANS/AKI) The bodies of the last two people killed at the avalanche-hit Rigopiano ski hotel in central Italy were pulled from its snow-covered ruins by rescuers on Friday. A total of 29 people died in the January 18 disaster while 11 survived.

Autopsies on the first six victims recovered from the hotel near the Abruzzo mountain village of Farindola showed that three died of hypothermia and three from hypothermia, suffocation and/or injuries, according to coroners.

All four children known to have been staying at the hotel survived, although two were orphaned in the massive avalanche which experts suspect was triggered by four strong earthquakes in the area earlier that day.

Rescuers worked around the clock to try and save people trapped inside the Rigopiano where night time temperatures have remained below zero. No one had been pulled out alive from the hotel since last Saturday.

Prosecutors in Pescara have opened a probe into the disaster including the rescue effort.