Italy avalanche toll rises

THE death toll in Italy’s avalanche disaster rose to 14 yesterday as rescuers extracted the bodies of two women from a devastated hotel and continued searching for 15 people still missing, local authorities said.

Six other bodies were found between Monday afternoon and early yesterday, the sixth day of what increasingly appears to be a forlorn search through the snow-covered wreckage of the Hotel Rigopiano in the mountains of Central Italy.

Eleven staff and guests survived – two men who were outside when the avalanche struck a week ago and nine people, including four children, who were found on Friday morning.

Rescuers have refused to give up hope of finding more people alive, with morale among the firefighters and mountain police boosted on Monday when three live puppies were retrieved from under the rubble.

Italian authorities are, meanwhile, investigating the chain of events leading to the avalanche.

A preliminary manslaughter investigation has been opened with the prosecutor in charge looking into whether environmental risks were properly taken into account during the construction and subsequent renovation of the hotel.

Events on the day of the disaster itself, when guests were unable to leave because of snow-blocked access roads, are also in the spotlight.

The local council had only one functioning road-clearance vehicle and had deployed it to reach isolated hamlets with elderly residents rather than clearing the road to the hotel.