Five people have been confirmed dead at the hotel demolished by an avalanche in central Italy this week, and nine survivors have been pulled from the rubble, including four more people on Saturday, Reuters reported. 

The two men and two women were freed from the Hotel Rigopiano overnight after hours of digging by firemen, who were having to move cautiously for fear the buried air pockets might collapse.

The hotel, located in the town of Farindola, was ripped from its foundation and almost completely covered by a wall of snow and debris up to 35 feet tall, triggered by a series of earthquakes that shook the region Wednesday, USA Today reported.

Cari said that rescue teams would continue to work night and day until everyone was accounted for.

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Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

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