- Title: Wake held for Italy avalanche victim
- Date: 23rd January 2017
- Summary: PENNE, ITALY (JANUARY 23, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CARS COVERED BY SNOW CAR COVERED WITH SNOW AND VILLAGE IN THE BACKGROUND PEOPLE WALKING ON NARROW ICY STREET MAN REMOVING SNOW FROM ROOF OF HOUSE SNOW FALLING NEXT TO FACADE OF BUILDING MEN SHOVELLING SNOW FROM ROAD CONDOLENCE MESSAGE SIGNS FOR GABRIELE D'ANGELO, 31, ON WALL SIGN ON WALL ANNOUNCING THE FUNERAL OF D'ANGELO ON TUESDAY 24 JANUARY AT 15:00 VARIOUS OF PEOPLE COMING OUT OF CHURCH WHERE WAKE IS HELD (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) LOCAL RESIDENT, CARLO, SAYING: "What happened was a natural disaster. The controversies are what they are. Poor guys who have had to experience this tragedy, this sad life, because of work. This is a small town and there is no work, so young people have to go elsewhere to find a way out and they are rewarded with this, whoever or whatever is at fault." PENNE, ITALY (JANUARY 22, 2017) (REUTERS) RESCUE WORKERS WORKING ON COMPUTERS AT TEMPORARY OPERATION BASE SET UP AT A SPORTS CENTRE VARIOUS OF RESCUE WORKERS PUTTING ON THEIR JACKETS AS THEY PREPARE FOR THEIR SHIFT RESCUE WORKER PACKING SHOVEL IN HIS BACKPACK RESCUE WORKERS LEAVING CARRYING THEIR SKIS TOP VIEW OF RESCUE WORKERS AT TEMPORARY BASE PENNE, ITALY (JANUARY 23, 2017) (REUTERS) TWO RESCUE WORKERS CARRYING PUPPIES WHO WERE RESCUED FROM HOTEL RIGOPIANO POLICEMAN CARRYING PUPPY POLICEMAN HOLDING PUPPY JOINING THE OTHER TWO RESCUE WORKERS AND POSING FOR MEDIA WITH PUPPIES PENNE, ITALY (JANUARY 22, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HELICOPTER AND RESCUE WORKER COMING OUT RESCUE WORKER UNBUTTONING HIS JACKET PESCARA, ITALY (JANUARY 23, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MOMAR NDIAYE, FRIEND OF MISSING SENEGALESE HOTEL WORKER, IN HOSPITAL LOBBY (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) FRIEND OF MISSING SENEGALESE HOTEL WORKER, MOMAR NDIAYE, SAYING: "He (Faye Dame) worked there. He is a person with a big heart. A person with values and dignity. He is a person I can call a brother of mine, and an example for the Senegalese here." NDIAYE SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) FRIEND OF MISSING SENEGALESE HOTEL WORKER, MOMAR NDIAYE, SAYING: "Yes, I have seen that they sent an email and called from the hotel, but their call for help was ignored. I think if someone asks for help, you must go and check what is happening. If they had done that, I don't think this would have happened. I feel bitter and very sad." NDIAYE SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) FRIEND OF MISSING SENEGALESE HOTEL WORKER, MOMAR NDIAYE, SAYING: "I hope that in the end I will get to embrace Faye in my arms. I am very sorry for all the people that have lost their lives," NDIAYE LEAVING
- Embargoed: 6th February 2017 16:22
- Keywords: avalanche earthquake Italy wake victims rescue hotel
- Location: PENNE AND PESCARA, ITALY
- City: PENNE AND PESCARA, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Earthquakes/Volcanoes/Tsunami
- Reuters ID: LVA00160AYBEV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:A wake was held in the mountain town of Penne on Monday (January 23) for 31-year-old avalanche victim Gabiele D'Angelo, as the body of a seventh victim was found in the buried ruins of the central Italian hotel.
Eleven people survived the Jan. 18 disaster in the Gran Sasso national park, including four children who were extracted from under tonnes of snow and debris on Friday (January 20).
The woman's body was recovered on Monday afternoon, bringing the confirmed death toll to seven and the number missing to around 22. Rescuers were still working to extract a body located on Sunday (January 22), the national fire brigade said.
Rescuers broke into smiles when they plucked three seven week-old white puppies from the ravaged hotel's boiler room.
The government has promised to review its emergency response apparatus in the wake of the disaster, and a court in nearby Pescara has opened an investigation.
On Monday, questions multiplied over the official response to last week's blizzards and deadly avalanche.
"What happened was a natural disaster. The controversies are what they are. Poor guys who have had to experience this tragedy, this sad life, because of work. This is a small town and there is no work, so young people have to go elsewhere to find a way out and they are rewarded with this, whoever or whatever is at fault," said Penne resident Carlo, who did not want to give his last name.
Italian media published an email sent by the hotel manager on Jan. 18 to an array of local authorities, urging help to clear the roads so guests could escape after powerful earthquakes rattled the region.
"The clients have been terrorised by the tremors," said the email. However, no help came before the avalanche struck, with local authorities saying that their most powerful snowplough had broken down and they did not have the money to repair it.
Staff operating emergency hotlines did not take seriously early telephone calls reporting the disaster, Quintino Marcella, a local restaurant owner, told local media.
Marcella, who had called for help after one of his employees telephoned from the demolished hotel, said the operator did not believe him.
Italian media said the hotel's owner told emergency services he knew nothing about the avalanche, but the operators were apparently unaware that he was not actually there at the time.
As a result, the rescue operation only got into gear some 2-1/2 hours later, with the first rescue team arriving by ski 11 hours after the catastrophe because the roads were impassable.
Momar Ndiaye, a friend of Faye Dame, a senegalese man who worked at the hotel said the reports made him feel embittered.
"He (Faye Dame) worked there. He is a person with a big heart. A person with values and dignity. He is a person I can call a brother of mine, and an example for the Senegalese here," he said.
"Yes, I have seen that they sent an email and called from the hotel, but their call for help was ignored. I think if someone asks for help, you must go and check what is happening. If they had done that, I don't think this would have happened. I feel bitter and very sad," he said, adding he hadn't given up hope of still being able to hug his friend.
Pescara prosecutor Cristina Tedeschini earlier on Monday said there probably had been misunderstandings, delays and glitches in communication, but played down their significance. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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