A rescue helicopter approaches the area in Rigopiano, central Italy, where a hotel has been buried under an avalanche on Wednesday, to recover some people who have been reportedly extracted alive from the debris, on Friday. | Photo Credit: APmore-inEight people were found alive on Friday two days after being buried under a massive avalanche that hit a luxury mountain hotel in central Italy, a Civil Protection official said. The first rescuers arrived amid a snow storm on skis earlyon Thursday morning, some 11 hours after the avalanche. Giampiero Parete, a chef who was a guest in the hotel, had gone to his car to get headache pills for his wife when the avalanche struck. Mr. Parete called his boss, Quintino Marcella, with his cellphone at 5:40 p.m. on Wednesday, just after the avalanche had struck, asking him to call for help.

Source: The Hindu January 20, 2017 12:45 UTC