FARINDOLA, Italy — After two days huddled in freezing cold, tons of snow surrounding them in the wreckage of the avalanche-demolished hotel, survivors greeted their rescuers Friday as “angels.” Among the 10 people pulled out alive was a plucky 6-year-old who just wanted her favorite cookies.
But for the loved ones of at least 16 others believed still trapped in the doomed mountain resort, the agonizing wait to learn their relatives’ fate dragged on.
Cheers of “Bravo! Bravo!” rang out early Friday as the first survivors were pulled from the debris, boosting spirits two days after the massive snow slide buried some 30 people. Four children were among those found alive.
“Today is a day of hope. There’s a miracle under way,” declared Ilario Lacchetta, mayor of the tiny town of Farindola, where the hotel is located.
The rescues buoyed spirits after four bodies were discovered earlier in the rubble of the luxury Hotel Rigopiano, 112 miles northeast of Rome, where the avalanche dumped 16½ feet of snow on top of the resort Wednesday. Relatives of the missing rushed from the rescue operations center in the mountains to the seaside hospital where the survivors were taken for treatment in hopes that their loved ones were among the lucky few to be found.
First word of the survivors came around 11 a.m. when a boy wearing blue snow pants and a matching ski jacket emerged through a tunnel dug in the snow more than 42 hours after the avalanche struck.
It was Gianfilippo Parete, the 8-year-old son of Giampiero Parete, a chef vacationing at the resort who was outside the hotel when the deluge of snow hit and first sounded the alarm by calling his boss.
Emergency crews mussed the boy’s hair in celebration. “Bravo! Bravo!” they cheered.
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.
Little Ludovica was rescued several hours later and upon emerging 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.
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.”
A few erupted in frustration at an evening news conference.
“The only news I have has been from the internet. They haven’t given me anything direct,” said Domenico Angelozzi, awaiting news of his sister and brother-in-law.
The number of survivors found and extracted evolved over the course of the day.
Late Friday, civil protection chief Fabrizio Cari said a total of 10 people had been found alive: Five who had been extracted, including four children. Rescuers were working to remove the rest, he said.
“A beautiful feeling. Wonderful. I can’t describe it!” marveled Simona Di Carlo, aunt of Edoardo Di Carlo, after hearing word that he was among the survivors. “But I would like to see him.”
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.
Those being rescued were in remarkably good condition, rescue workers said. Titi Postiglione, operations chief of the civil protection agency, said survivors would help rescuers try to locate others trapped in the hotel.
Workers have been clearing a 5.5-mile road to bring in heavier equipment, but the mountain road can handle only one-way traffic and is covered with snow and fallen trees and rocks.
Days of heavy 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.
The force of the massive snow slide collapsed one wing of the hotel and rotated another off its foundation, pushing it downhill.
An Alpine rescue team was the first to arrive at the hotel on cross-country skis after a seven-kilometer journey that took two hours. They found Parete and Fabio Salzetta, a hotel maintenance worker, in a car in the resort’s parking lot.
Parete was taken to a hospital while Salzetta stayed behind to help rescuers identify where guests might be buried and how crews could enter the buildings.