Crews intensify search for 23 missing in Italian avalanche
FARINDOLA, Italy — The strain showed on Fabio Salzetta’s face.
The maintenance worker at the luxury Hotel Rigopiano who escaped being buried under the deadly avalanche because he had gone to check the boiler told Italian media Saturday that he called for hours to find survivors, but no one responded.
The scene, he said, “felt like it was a dream. It was a nightmare.”
One of the people buried inside, and among the 23 missing, is his sister.
His voice shaking, he said he last saw her in the kitchen.
Five people have been confirmed killed, including two hotel waiters, while nine, including four children who had been on family vacations, have been pulled alive from the reinforced concrete structure buried beneath as much as 24 feet of snow Wednesday.
Doctors at the hospital in Pescara said one of the adults underwent surgery for a crushed arm, and was in fair condition, but that all of the other patients were doing well. The chil- dren were being moved from intensive care to the pediatric ward.
Buoyed by the rescues Friday, more than two days after the disaster, search crews were intensifying their round-the-clock operation, fighting against time and deteriorating weather conditions including fresh snowfall and temperatures that dipped below freezing.
“The research is difficult also because the site is in a precarious equilibrium, that’s why the interventions are made very carefully and why we cannot intervene with big machineries risking to modify a very vulnerable situation,” said Titti Postiglione of Italy’s civil protection agency.
Instead, workers pushed ahead using saws, shovels and gloved hands, listening for any sounds that might suggest survivors.
Dozens of friends and family members kept vigil at the hospital, some growing frustrated at the lack of news.
Because of the continued avalanche risk, escape routes were planned for rescue crews and each participant was equipped with a tracking device in case they were buried by the snow.