Rescuers pull out avalanche survivors

FARINDOLA, ITALY » After two days huddled in freezing cold, tons of snow surrounding them in the wreckage of the avalanche-demolished hotel, survivors greeted their rescuers Friday as “angels.” Among the 10 people pulled out alive was a plucky 6-year-old who just wanted her favorite cookies.

But for the loved ones of at least 16 others still trapped in the doomed mountain resort in central Italy, the agonizing wait to learn their relatives’ fate dragged on.

“Whoever had good news is happy,” said Francesco Provolo, the prefect of the nearby town of Pescara, where the survivors were taken to a hospital.

“Who didn’t have good news...,” Provolo’s voice trailed off as he was joined by people at the hospital who looked upset.

Cheers of “Bravo! Bravo!” rang out early Friday as the first survivors were pulled from the debris, boosting spirits two days after the massive snow slide buried some 30 people. Four children were among those found alive, though the fate of the parents of one of them remained unknown as rescuers dug on.

“Today is a day of hope. There’s a miracle under way,” declared Ilario Lacchetta, mayor of the tiny town of Farindola, where the hotel is located.

Before the rescues, four bodies had been discovered earlier in the rubble of the luxury Hotel Rigopiano, in the Gran Sasso mountains 115 miles northeast of Rome, where the avalanche dumped 16½ feet of snow on top of the resort Wednesday.

Relatives of the missing rushed from the mountain rescue operations center to the seaside hospital where the survivors were taken for treatment in hopes that their loved ones were among the lucky few to be found.

First word of the survivors came around 11 a.m. when a boy wearing blue snow pants and a matching ski jacket emerged through a tunnel dug in the snow more than 42 hours after the avalanche struck.

It was Gianfilippo Parete, the 8-year-old son of Giampiero Parete, a chef vacationing at the resort who was outside the hotel when the deluge hit and first sounded the alarm by calling his boss.

Emergency crews mussed the boy’s hair in celebration. “Bravo! Bravo!” they cheered.

Next to emerge was the boy’s mother, Adriana Vranceanu, 43, wearing red snow pants and appearing alert as she pointed toward the wreckage where her 6-year-old daughter, Ludovica, was still trapped. Mother and son were taken by stretcher to a helicopter for the ride out.

They were then reunited with Parete at the hospital in Pescara, suffering from hypothermia and dehydration but otherwise in good health.

“They had heavy clothes,” said Dr. Tullio Spina, director of the hospital’s intensive care and anesthesia unit. “They had ski caps to cover themselves. They remained away from the snow and cold, they were always inside the structure. That’s why the hypothermia wasn’t severe.”

Ludovica, in a fuschia-colored top and dark snow pants, was rescued several hours later and asked for cookies: Ringos, an Italian version of Oreos, said Quintino Marcella, the restaurant owner who rallied the rescue after getting the phone call from her father.

He said the little girl, her brother and mother “are great. Of course, they are worn out after two nights and two days without anything, in the cold.”

Some 30 people were believed trapped inside the hotel when the avalanche hit after days of winter storms that dumped nearly 10 feet (three meters) of snow. The region was also rocked by four strong earthquakes on Wednesday, though it was not clear if they set off the avalanche.

As the rescue work continued, relatives of the missing gathered anxiously at the Pescara hospital waiting for word of their loved ones.

“I just hope that my niece and her boyfriend will make it out of there,” said Melissa Riccardo. “We came to see if she was here.”

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A woman gets assistance Friday after being pulled from the debris of the hotel that was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday, in Rigopiano, Italy.