Rescue team say 8 people have been found alive in Italian hotel buried in avalanche
Eight people including two children have been found alive in the rubble of an Italian hotel that was engulfed by an avalanche, police have said, according to news agency Ansa.
Six people have been found alive under an avalanche that hit a ski hotel in central Italy.
Rescue crews are believed to be in contact with the survivors under the rubble, and officers have requested rescue helicopters at the remote Hotel Rigopiano in the mountains of the Abruzzo region, but fire service officials say they have not yet been able to rescue them.
The building has been buried under snow which is hampering efforts to find survivors.
Two bodies have been found.
Rescue crews are still searching for some 30 people trapped inside an Italian mountain resort flattened by a huge avalanche.
Italy's civil protection agency on Friday said the work continued throughout the night with searchlights, and would accelerate with the arrival of daylight.
So far two bodies have been recovered, and RAI state TV said two more bodies have been located in the snow.
The search has been hampered by snow blocking the only road in, concern the buildings would collapse and fear of a fresh avalanche.
The first rescue teams arrived on skis, and firefighters were dropped in by helicopter.
Overnight the road was widened to bring in heavier vehicles to aid with the search.
Guests at the three-storey Hotel Rigopiano in the central Abruzzo region alerted emergency workers on Wednesday.
