Search Ends in Italy Hotel Avalanche

Rescue attempts at the Hotel Rigopiano in Italy, which was buried by an avalanche last week, have ended, The Local it reports. The last of the bodies was recovered Wednesday night, bringing the death toll of the disaster to 29. There were 11 survivors, including all four of the children who were inside the hotel at the time of the avalanche. 

Rescuers had been working 14-hour shifts, according to The Local it, traveling to the area by ski and helicopter to attempt to reach those trapped under the rubble. 

According to Reuters, prosecutors have opened an investigation into the tragedy, with politicians in the opposition 5-Star Movement arguing that cuts to local funding and the scrapping of a rural police force left the national emergency response system ill-equipped to respond to the disaster. Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has promised to add to reconstruction funds from last year’s earthquakes in central Italy. 

Deutsche Welle reports that government officials are also investigating how the hotel was allowed to expand. The Hotel Rigopiano was originally a mountain hut, but was renovated into a four-star hotel and spa in the early 1970s. 

The hotel is near the area hit by a series of earthquakes last summer that damaged several popular tourist towns, including Amatrice, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto, and killed over 240 people. Several historic buildings were also destroyed in that disaster, as well as the Hotel Roma in Amatrice.