PhotoROME — Rescue workers on Saturday pulled three more bodies from the rubble and snow that covered an isolated hotel in the Apennine Mountains in central Italy when it was struck by an avalanche caused by an earthquake on Wednesday. Five people — two members of the Hotel Rigopiano’s staff, a guest and two others awaiting identification — have now been confirmed dead in the episode, but the number is expected to rise as rescuers work around the clock at the site. The Italian authorities said 23 people who were in the hotel when the avalanche struck were still missing. Rescuers are trying to identify and track signals from some cellphones, the Italian police said in a statement on Saturday. Two other people at the hotel survived because they were outside when the avalanche hit, and they were helping rescuers search the remains of the 43-room hotel.

Source: New York Times January 21, 2017 17:21 UTC