FARINDOLA, Italy -- With cheers of "Bravo! Bravo!" rescue crews pulled survivors from the debris of an avalanche-crushed hotel in central Italy on Friday, boosting spirits two days after the snowslide buried some 30 people. Four children were among the 10 people found alive -- and one asked for cookies when she got out.
The news buoyed rescue workers who had found four bodies in the rubble of the luxury Rigopiano Hotel in Farindola, 112 miles northeast of Rome, where the avalanche dumped 16½ feet of snow on the resort.
"Today is a day of hope. There's a miracle underway," declared Ilario Lacchetta, mayor of the tiny town.
Relatives of the missing rushed from the rescue operations center in the mountains to the seaside hospital where the survivors were taken.
First word of the discovery came around 11 a.m. Video released by rescuers showed a boy wearing blue snow pants and a matching ski jacket emerging through a tunnel dug in the snow. It was Gianfilippo Parete, the 8-year-old son of Giampiero Parete, a chef vacationing at the resort who had gone to his car when the avalanche struck and first sounded the alarm by calling his boss.
Next to emerge was the boy's mother, Adriana Vranceanu, 43, wearing red snow pants and appearing alert as she told rescuers that her 6-year-old daughter, Ludovica, was still trapped inside. Mother and son were taken by stretcher to a helicopter for the ride out.
They were then reunited with Parete at a hospital in the coastal town of Pescara, suffering from hypothermia and dehydration but otherwise in good health, hospital officials said.
"They had heavy clothes," said Dr. Rossano di Luzio. "They had ski caps to cover themselves. They remained away from the snow and cold, they were always inside the structure. That's why the hypothermia wasn't severe."
Ludovica, in a fuschia-colored top and dark snow pants, was rescued several hours later and asked for cookies: Ringos, an Italian version of Oreos, said Quintino Marcella, the restaurant owner who rallied the rescue after getting the phone call from her father.
He said the little girl, her brother and mother "are great. Of course, they are worn out after two nights and two days without anything, in the cold."
About 30 people were trapped inside the hotel in the Gran Sasso mountain range when the avalanche hit Wednesday after days of winter storms that dumped up to 10 feet of snow in some places. The region also was rocked by four earthquakes Wednesday, though it was not clear if they set off the avalanche.
As the rescue work continued, relatives of the missing gathered anxiously at the Pescara hospital waiting for word of their loved ones.
"I just hope that my niece and her boyfriend will make it out of there," said Melissa Riccardo. "We came to see if she was here."
Rescue crews said one group of survivors was found in the hotel's kitchen area in an air pocket that formed when reinforced cement walls partially resisted the avalanche's violent power.
"It's probable that they realized the risk and took protective measures," firefighter Giuseppe Romano said.
Prosecutors opened a manslaughter investigation into the tragedy and were looking into whether the avalanche threat was taken seriously enough, and whether the hotel should have been evacuated earlier given the heavy snowfall and forecasts.
Days of snowfall had knocked out electricity and phone lines in many central Italian towns and hamlets, and the hotel phones went down early Wednesday, just as the first of the four powerful earthquakes struck.
Lacchetta, the Farindola mayor, said the hotel had 24 guests, four of them children, and 12 employees onsite at the time of the avalanche.
Information was contributed to this article by Nicole Winfield of The Associated Press.
A Section on 01/21/2017