Avalanche workers go slowly amid fears of new snowslide

FARINDOLA, Italy — Using saws, shovels and their gloved hands, rescue workers advanced slowly Saturday through the wreckage of an avalanche-destroyed hotel in central Italy, listening hard for any signs of more survivors among the 23 missing guests and hotel workers.

Falling snow reduced visibility and raised new fears that a fresh wall of snow could suddenly barrel down upon the emergency workers at the site in Italy’s Apennines mountains. Rescuers were working around the clock and said the risk of a new avalanche was very high.

By Saturday, nine survivors and five bodies had been pulled out of what was the Hotel Rigopiano, now a ruin under the weight of tons of snow that cascaded down the mountain on Wednesday. One survivor underwent surgery for a crushed arm, while the others were reported in good condition. The rescued included all four children inside the hotel when the avalanche hit.

Firefighter spokesman Alberto Maiolo said noises were heard Saturday, but it was not immediately clear if they were caused by survivors.

“The noises could be the drip of snow melt, material shifting” or from survivors, he told Sky TG24 TV.

He said 23 people were missing from the avalanche near the famed Gran Sasso massif, but stressed that number was “provisional.”

That voices haven’t been heard lately doesn’t mean no one is still alive, said Walter Milan, a spokesman for alpine rescuers. “We know that thick walls and snow isolates” possible voices, Milan told Sky. VERONA, Italy —

Because of the avalanche risk, escape routes were planned for rescue crews and each participant was equipped with a tracking device in case they were buried under the snow.

Snowfall higher than 10 feet thwarted the arrival of heavy equipment like cranes, said rescue spokesman Marco Bini, leaving the searchers to often rely on their hands or simple snow shovels to make progress.

The search included sending sound-sensitive instruments down into snow-crusted debris. Rescuers passed crates full of chunks of hardened snow and ice to colleagues as they tried to penetrate deeper into the wreckage, creating the rough equivalent of elevator shafts to allow searchers to descend into the smashed hotel.

Searchers also used devices that could pick up any electronic waves emitted by cell phones of the missing, Milan said.