Search teams are still working around the clock amid deteriorating weather conditions in search of possible survivors and bodies.
Eleven people have survived the disaster so far, including nine who were pulled out of the ruins by search teams, while 22 others who were inside the hotel when it was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday are still missing.
Three puppies were found alive in the rubble of the hotel on Monday. Their parents, Nuvola and Lupo, escaped the structure's collapse and came downhill a few days ago. The puppies were said to be in good health after almost five days buried in freezing snow. The dogs are a local breed, Abruzzo Shepherds.
Meanwhile prosecutors in Pescara investigating the disaster said the hotel had sent an email to local authorities on Wednesday to alert them that clients were stranded because all roads around the resort were blocked due to the snow, and that they wanted to leave after earthquakes had shaken the area in the morning.
The information had also reached rescue teams who had been working since 3:00 am Wednesday to clear roads, according to investigators who are looking into possible disaster and multiple manslaughter charges.
The email sent by the hotel's director, Bruno Di Tommaso, spoke about a "worrisome situation" and said "clients were terrified" because they were stranded and couldn't leave "due to blocked roads", asking for a rescue team to intervene.
The Abruzzo region where the hotel was located was gripped by subfreezing temperatures and snow, with one in four residents without power, multiple roadblocks and floods when it was shaken by four earthquakes that wreaked further havoc in the area.
Local authorities said a wind turbine would be dispatched in the evening but the hotel was struck by an avalanche at around 4:30 pm, just two hours after another quake hit the area.
With ANSA
