Joy erupts as Italian rescuers pull out avalanche survivors

With cheers of joy, rescue crews pulled survivors from the debris of an avalanche-crushed hotel in central Italy today, an incredible discovery that boosted spirits two days after the massive snow slide buried around 30 people at the resort. Two children were among those rescued.
First word of the discovery came at around 11 a.M., news that was met with exhilaration since at least four people had already been found dead after the avalanche hit Wednesday afternoon and dumped upwards of 5 meters (16½ feet) of snow on the hotel.
Video released by rescuers showed a boy, wearing blue snow pants and a matching ski shirt, emerging from the structure through a snow hole. Emergency crews mussed his hair in celebration.

"Bravo, Bravo!" they cheered.
Next came a woman with a long ponytail wearing red snow pants, appearing fully alert. Both were helped to a stretcher for the helicopter ride out.
"This first news has obviously repaid all the rescuers' efforts," said Italy's deputy interior minister, Filippo Bubbico.

About 30 people were trapped inside the luxury Hotel Rigopiano in the Gran Sasso mountain range when the avalanche hit Wednesday after days of winter storms that dumped up to 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) of snow in some places. The region was also rocked by four earthquakes on Wednesday but it was not clear if any of those set off the avalanche.

Two people initially survived the devastation and called out for help. One of them, Giampiero Parete, had called his boss and begged him to call in rescue crews because his wife and two children were inside.
The wife, Adriana Vranceanu, 43, and son Gianfilippo, were reunited with their father at the hospital in Pescara today, ANSA news agency and state-run RAI radio said. The fate of their daughter, Ludovica, wasn't immediately known. The number of the survivors found and extracted from the rubble evolved over the course of the day.
"We found five people alive. We're pulling them out. Send us a helicopter," a rescuer said today over firefighters' radio, overheard by Associated Press journalists making their way on foot toward the disaster site.

Later, the number rose to eight people, including two children, although the civil protection agency itself would only confirm six survivors found.
Firefighter Giuseppe Romano then said more positive news was unfolding: "There are signs from other people. Other people are responding to our requests," he told Sky Tg24. Rescue crews said the first group of survivors had been found in a kitchen area, and had survived thanks to an air pocket that formed when reinforced cement walls partially resisted the avalanche's violent power.