Death toll from Italy avalanche climbs to 17 as hopes diminish

FARINDOLA, Italy — Hopes faded Tuesday that any more survivors of the devastating avalanche that buried an Italian resort hotel would be found after the death toll more than doubled to 17, with 12 people still unaccounted for.

The helicopter was ferrying an injured skier off the slopes of the Campo Felice ski area when it slammed into a mountainside buried in thick fog.

Emergency workers at the center where rescue efforts at the avalanche-entombed Hotel Rigopiano are being coordinated rushed to the chopper crash site about 60 miles away.

Firefighters’ spokesman Alberto Maiolo said search crews aided by excavators finally were able to penetrate the central part of the hotel for the first time and found bodies in the bar and kitchen area.

Prosecutors are investigating whether a series of missed communications, underestimations of risks and delays in responding to days of heavy snowfall contributed to the toll from the avalanche.