Emergency crews were cheered on Monday by the discovery of three puppies who had survived for days under tons of snow — giving them new hope for the people still missing in the Italian avalanche disaster.
The pups were rescued five days after up to 60,000 tonnes of snow, rocks and uprooted trees ploughed into the Hotel Rigopiano in central Italy.
Seven people have already been confirmed dead in the disaster, but the rescue of the Abruzzo sheepdogs gives new hope of finding alive some of the people still buried.
The puppies join the nine people that have been rescued from the Hotel Rigopiano so far.
Firefighter spokesman Luca Cari said emergency crews were working with an “operational hypothesis” that people might still be alive, but he stressed “we are fighting against time”. Conditions at the site are deteriorating, with the heavy snow turning to ice.
