126 | March• 2019Whileotherscircledthedestroyed
hotel, rescuers spotted two head-
lights.About180metresawaysat
Salzetta and Parete in the BMW. The
rescuersracedintheirdirection.
“Howmanypeopleareinthe
hotel?” one asked.
“A b o u t 4 0 ,” S a l z e t t a r e p l i e d.
“Canyougiveusanideaofwhere
they might be?”
Salzetta offered his best guesses.
AsrescuerswrappedPareteina
thermal blanket and took him down
the mountain on a stretcher, other
team members began probing the
snow with their sondas. They found
thefirstbodyafteraboutanhour,
buried under two metres of snow.
It was Gabriele D’Angelo, Salzetta’sThe snow was falling so hard, the
wind blowing so strongly, that the
men could see only a few metres
ahead. Across their path, fallen trees
blocked the way. When they could,
the responders clambered over the
downed logs. When they couldn’t,
they stopped to chop at the trees with
saws and axes.
Six hours after leaving Farindola,
rescuers noticed the first signs of the
disaster: a wide snowfield strewn with
toppled trees. They heard the hum of a
generator and saw the distant lights of
the resort’s spa. Drawing closer, they
could make out the twinkling bulbs of
a Christmas tree. There was no move-
ment anywhere – no human sound,
just rubble. PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
Parts of the hotel were intact. Rescuers moved carefully past dangling concrete