Farindola, Italy • After two days huddled in freezing cold, tons of snow surrounding them in the wreckage of the avalanche-demolished hotel, survivors greeted their rescuers Friday as "angels." Among the 10 people pulled out alive was a plucky 6-year-old who just wanted her favorite cookies.
But for the loved ones of at least 16 others still trapped in the doomed mountain resort in central Italy, the agonizing wait to learn their relatives' fate dragged on.
"Whoever had good news is happy," said Francesco Provolo, the prefect of the nearby town of Pescara, where the survivors were taken to a hospital.
"Who didn't have good news ..." Provolo's voice trailed off as he was joined by people at the hospital who looked upset.
Cheers of "Bravo! Bravo!" rang out early Friday as the first survivors were pulled from the debris, boosting spirits two days after the massive snow slide buried some 30 people. Four children were among those found alive, though the fate of the parents of one of them remained unknown as rescuers dug on.
"Today is a day of hope. There's a miracle underway," declared Ilario Lacchetta, mayor of the tiny town of Farindola, where the hotel is located.
Before the rescues, four bodies had been discovered earlier in the rubble of the luxury Hotel Rigopiano, in the Gran Sasso mountains 115 miles northeast of Rome, where the avalanche dumped 16½ feet of snow on top of the resort Wednesday.
Relatives of the missing rushed from the mountain rescue operations center to the seaside hospital where the survivors were taken for treatment in hopes that their loved ones were among the lucky few to be found.
First word of the survivors came around 11 a.m. when a boy wearing blue snow pants and a matching ski jacket emerged through a tunnel dug in the snow more than 42 hours after the avalanche struck.
It was Gianfilippo Parete, the 8-year-old son of Giampiero Parete, a chef vacationing at the resort who was outside the hotel when the deluge hit and first sounded the alarm by calling his boss.
Emergency crews mussed the boy's hair in celebration. "Bravo! Bravo!" they cheered.
Next to emerge was the boy's mother, Adriana Vranceanu, 43, wearing red snow pants and appearing alert as she pointed toward the wreckage where her 6-year-old daughter, Ludovica, was still trapped. Mother and son were taken by stretcher to a helicopter for the ride out.
They were then reunited with Parete at the hospital in Pescara, suffering from hypothermia and dehydration but otherwise in good health.
"They had heavy clothes," said Tullio Spina, director of the hospital's intensive care and anesthesia unit. "They had ski caps to cover themselves. They remained away from the snow and cold, they were always inside the structure. That's why the hypothermia wasn't severe."
Ludovica, in a fuschia-colored top and dark snow pants, was rescued several hours later and asked for cookies: Ringos, an Italian version of Oreos, said Quintino Marcella, the restaurant owner who rallied the rescue after getting the phone call from her father.
He said the little girl, her brother and mother "are great. Of course, they are worn out after two nights and two days without anything, in the cold."
Some 30 people were believed trapped inside the hotel when the avalanche hit after days of winter storms that dumped nearly 10 feet of snow. The region was also rocked by four strong earthquakes on Wednesday, though it was not clear if they set off the avalanche.
As the rescue work continued, relatives of the missing gathered anxiously at the Pescara hospital waiting for word of their loved ones.
Marco Bini, a member of a police squad participating in the rescue, said the team opened a hole in the hotel roof Thursday night but "heard nothing." Still, they pushed on, following a floor plan of the hotel until they found signs of life.
Upon seeing their rescuers, the survivors "called them angels," he said.
"They weren't in a lot of space" but it was enough to survive, an area probably protected by the snow, Bini told Italian state TV.
Late Friday, civil protection chief Fabrizio Curcio said 10 people had been found alive: Five who had been extracted, including the four children. Rescuers were working to remove the rest, he said.
Rescue crews said a group of survivors was found in the hotel's kitchen area in an air pocket that formed when reinforced cement walls partially resisted the avalanche's violent power.
"It's probable that they realized the risk and took protective measures," firefighter Giuseppe Romano said.
Prosecutors opened a manslaughter investigation into the tragedy and were looking into whether the avalanche threat was taken seriously enough, and whether the hotel should have been evacuated earlier given the heavy snowfall and forecasts.
"That hotel ... should it have been open?" prosecutor Christina Tedeschini was quoted by the ANSA news agency as saying.
An Italian firefighter walks inside the Hotel Rigopiano after an avalanche buried the hotel, near Farindola, central Italy, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017. Rescue crews are continuing the painstaking search for some 30 people trapped inside a remote Italian mountain resort flattened by a huge avalanche. (Italian Firefighters/ANSA via Italian Firefighters)
Rescue helicopters approach the area in Rigopiano, central Italy, where a hotel have been buried under an avalanche on Wednesday, to recover 6 people who have been reportedly extracted alive from the debris, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo Gregorio Borgia)
A rescue helicopter approaches the area in Rigopiano, central Italy, where a hotel have been buried under an avalanche on Wednesday, to recover 6 people who have been reportedly extracted alive from the debris, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo Gregorio Borgia)
A rescue helicopter approaches the area in Rigopiano, central Italy, where a hotel have been buried under an avalanche on Wednesday, to recover 6 people who have been reportedly extracted alive from the debris, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo Gregorio Borgia)
A rescue helicopter approaches the area in Rigopiano, central Italy, where a hotel has been buried under an avalanche on Wednesday, to recover some people who have been reportedly extracted alive from the debris, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo Gregorio Borgia)
A view of the mountains' crest in the area of Rigopiano, central Italy, where a hotel has been buried under an avalanche on Wednesday, some people who have been reportedly extracted alive from the debris, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo Gregorio Borgia)
This frame from video shows Italian firefighters extracting a woman alive from under snow and debris of an hotel that was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday, in Rigopiano, central Italy, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Italian Firfighters/ANSA via AP)
This frame from video shows Italian firefighters extracting a woman alive from under snow and debris of an hotel that was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday, in Rigopiano, central Italy, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Italian Firefighters/ANSA via AP)
This frame from video shows Italian firefighters extracting a boy alive from under snow and debris of an hotel that was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday, in Rigopiano, central Italy, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Italian Firefighters/ANSA via AP)
This frame from video shows Italian firefighters extracting a person alive from under snow and debris of an hotel that was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday, in Rigopiano, central Italy, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Italian Firefighters/ANSA via AP)
A rescue helicopter flies above a convoy of rescue operation vehicles on a cleared road that leads the Hotel Rigopiano, near Farandola, central Italy, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. Rescue crews located up to eight people alive in the kitchen of an avalanche-crushed hotel on Friday, an incredible discovery that boosted spirits two days after the massive snow slide buried around 30 people in the resort. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A rescue helicopter flies towards the area hit by an avalanche, seen on the mountain's crest in the background, which buried a hotel, near Farindola, central Italy, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. Rescue crews located up to eight people alive in the kitchen of an avalanche-crushed hotel on Friday, an incredible discovery that boosted spirits two days after the massive snow slide buried around 30 people in the resort. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A Coast Guard rescue helicopter flies to the avalanche-hit area where a hotel is buried under the snow, near Farandola, central Italy, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. Rescue crews located up to eight people alive in the kitchen of an avalanche-crushed hotel on Friday, an incredible discovery that boosted spirits two days after the massive snow slide buried around 30 people in the resort. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
This frame from video shows Italian firefighters extracting a woman alive from under snow and debris of an hotel that was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday, in Rigopiano, central Italy, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Italian Firefighters/ANSA via AP)
This aerial view taken from a drone shows rescuers working amidst snow and debris of an hotel that was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday, in Rigopiano, central Italy, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. Rescue crews located more than eight people alive in the rubble of an avalanche-crushed hotel on Friday, an incredible discovery that boosted spirits two days after the massive snow slide buried around 30 people in the resort. (Italian Firefighters/ANSA via AP)
A woman gets assistance after being pulled out from the hotel that was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday, in Rigopiano, central Italy, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. Rescue crews located more than eight people alive in the rubble of an avalanche-crushed hotel on Friday, an incredible discovery that boosted spirits two days after the massive snow slide buried around 30 people in the resort. (ANSA via AP)
A woman gets assistance after being pulled out from the hotel that was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday, in Rigopiano, central Italy, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. Rescue crews located more than eight people alive in the rubble of an avalanche-crushed hotel on Friday, an incredible discovery that boosted spirits two days after the massive snow slide buried around 30 people in the resort. (ANSA via AP)
A Finance Police helicopter hovers above the town of Farindola, central Italy, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017. Days of heavy snowfall had knocked out electricity and phone lines in many central Italian towns and hamlets, compounded by four powerful earthquakes that struck the region on Wednesday, and an avalanche which buried a four-star spa hotel near Farindola. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A woman gets assistance after being pulled out from the hotel that was hit by an avalanche on Wednesday, in Rigopiano, central Italy, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. Rescue crews located more than eight people alive in the rubble of an avalanche-crushed hotel on Friday, an incredible discovery that boosted spirits two days after the massive snow slide buried around 30 people in the resort. (ANSA via AP)