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Three Bodies Found At Italian Mountain Hotel Buried By Avalanche

MILAN (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Three bodies have been found at the scene of an avalanche that buried a hotel in central Italy following an earthquake.

Heavy vehicles have been struggling to get to the scene to help in the search for the 30 people believed trapped inside the three-story Hotel Rigopiano in the central region of Abruzzo.

PHOTOS: Avalanche In Italy

Aerial video shot by helicopter crews showed rescue workers on top of the snow-covered hotel, digging holes down to try to get in.

Firefighters say the snow slide uprooted trees and wiped out parts of the hotel. A firefighters' spokesman tells the news agency ANSA that mattresses ended up hundreds of yards away from where the building was.

Two people escaped the devastation and called for help, but it took hours for responders to arrive to the remote zone. The Alpine teams on skis managed to reach the hotel at about 4 a.m. local time.

Italian news reports say that some guests sent text messages to emergency numbers advising they were trapped inside.

"Help, we're dying of cold,'' one couple wrote rescuers, according to the ANSA news agency.

In addition, someone who had managed to get out also texted authorities. The guest, identified by news reports as Fabio Salzetta, sent a SMS message saying he had escaped with a maintenance worker but that others were trapped inside.

Corriere della Sera quoted the text message as saying: "Some walls were knocked down.'' And: "I'm outside with a maintenance worker but you can't see anything of the hotel, there's only a wall of snow in front of me.''

The area is part of the region that was hit by a series of four strong earthquakes on Wednesday, the biggest of which was 5.7 on the Richter scale. Multiple aftershocks followed, but it's not clear if they are what triggered the avalanche.

The hotel was built to be earthquake-proof, but there was no protection against avalanches.

Meanwhile, criticism poured in about the response of emergency crews to the snow-covered quake zone.

A restaurant owner, Quintino Marcella, said he received a phone call at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday from one of his chefs who was on vacation at the hotel, had escaped but said his wife and two children were trapped inside.

"He calls me and says 'Help me, an avalanche has hit and the hotel isn't there anymore. It's disappeared. It's buried. Two of us are here but call rescue crews.'''

Marcella said he immediately called police and prefecture's emergency coordination center, but the prefect's office assured him that the hotel had phoned two or three hours earlier reporting everything was OK.

Marcella said he frantically tried to call other emergency numbers but no one took him seriously. Speaking on Sky TG24, he said only hours later, after 8 p.m., did the response begin.

He said his chef kept saying "Help, help, help, help.''

Premier Paolo Gentiloni urged Italian authorities to redouble efforts to reach people isolated by new earthquakes and unusually heavy snow.

Gentiloni told reporters Thursday that the priority is to reach all isolated towns and hamlets that have been buried under snowfall for days and then jolted by the four powerful quakes on Wednesday.

Italian newspapers are reporting scientists predict there is a possibility of another earthquake hitting the region, which could further complicate the rescue efforts.

A major quake last August killed nearly 300 people and destroyed buildings in historic towns and hamlets.

(TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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