Europe

Final toll for Italy avalanche stands at 29 as recovery ends

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Italian Mountain Rescue Corps "Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico" Soccorso Alpino volunteers and rescuers work in the area of the avalanche-struck Hotel Rigopiano, near Farindola, central Italy, Wednesday Jan. 25, 2017. (Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico/via AP) (The Associated Press)

Vincenzo Forti, right, and Giorgia Galassi, two of the nine survivors of the avalanche that hit the Hotel Rigopiano last Wednesday, talk to the Associated Press in Giulianova, Italy, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. In an interview with The Associated Press at her parents' home, Giorgia Galassi says she never imagined that an avalanche could have been responsible for the devastation around her in the Hotel Rigopiano. (AP Photo/Eldar Emric) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017 file photo, Italian firefighters search for survivors after an avalanche buried Hotel Rigopiano near Farindola, central Italy. The final death toll from Italy's devastating avalanche stands at 29 after the remaining bodies were pulled out of the rubble of the hotel crushed by tons of snow, firefighters said Thursday, Jan. 26. Firefighters issued the update after a week of search efforts at the isolated hotel. Nine people were pulled out alive in the first days of the rescue. (Italian Firefighters/ANSA via Italian Firefighters, File) (The Associated Press)

The final death toll from Italy's devastating avalanche stands at 29 after the final bodies were pulled out of the rubble of a hotel crushed by tons of snow.

Firefighters issued the update early Thursday after a week of search efforts at the isolated Hotel Rigopiano in central Italy. Nine people were pulled out alive in the first days of the rescue.

Premier Paolo Gentiloni acknowledged delays and "malfunctioning" in the initial rescue effort after local authorities brushed off the first alarms about the avalanche. But Gentiloni told parliament on Wednesday that now wasn't the time to find scapegoats.

Prosecutors say that autopsies on the first six bodies examined showed most died from the initial physical trauma of the hotel collapsing, with some also showing signs of hypothermia and asphyxiation.