Joy as crews save survivors of avalanche
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.
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.
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.