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Search Ends At Italian Hotel Hit By Avalanche After 29 Bodies Recovered


Rescue workers search for survivors at the Hotel Rigopiano, which was struck by an avalanche on January 18.
Rescue workers search for survivors at the Hotel Rigopiano, which was struck by an avalanche on January 18.

The search for bodies in the ruins of a hotel hit by an avalanche in central Italy was concluded on January 26 after search teams recovered the last of 29 bodies thought to be buried beneath the rubble.

The bodies of a man and woman were pulled out late on January 25 from the site of the Hotel Rigopiano, meaning that everyone known to have been in the facility when it was destroyed has been accounted for.

Eleven people, including four children, were rescued alive after the avalanche, which struck the hotel amid heavy snowstorms and several powerful nearby earthquakes on January 18.

The four-star hotel was at the base of the Gran Sasso mountain, about 135 kilometers northeast of Rome.

Based on reporting by Reuters and CNN

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