A series of earthquakes and heavy snowfall triggered an avalanche in Abruzzo region, Southern Italy, which destroyed the four-star Hotel Rigopiano, killing twenty-nine and injuring eleven.

The avalanche hit in the afternoon of January 18 and was said to comprise a total of 60,000 tonnes of snow, ice, rocks and uprooted trees travelling at 60 mph.

Investigations are taking place into the failure of the Italian authorities to respond quickly to the reports of the avalanche, and whether the hotel was built on the debris of previous avalanches taking the same route down the mountainside.