The Romanian Embassy in Italy has been notified that three Romanian citizens were in the Rigopiano Hotel in central Italy, which was hit by an avalanche after a series of earthquakes shook the area on Wednesday, January 18.

The Romanian Embassy immediately contacted the local authorities to find more information, according to a statement from the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reports local Agerpres. According to the information the Embassy has received so far, an adult and two children of Romanian nationality were in the hotel.

The authorities in Italy have intervened at the Rigopiano Hotel in the region of Abruzzo, central Italy, after the building was hit by an avalanche and buried under snow. Some 30 people are believed to have been in the mountain hotel at that time, some of whom have lost their lives.

The hotel is about 50 km from the coastal city of Pescara. Central Italy was hit by four earthquakes in just four hours on Wednesday, all of them having magnitudes of over 5.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Vigili del Fuoco on Twitter)