Ceremonies to remember Rigopiano victims

(ANSA) - Farindola (Pescara), January 18 - One year after an avalanche destroyed the Rigopiano Hotel in the Abruzzo village of Farindola killing 29 people, events were organized throughout Italy Thursday to commemorate the victims.
    The day started with a ceremony during which a wreath of flowers was placed at the entrance of what is left of the resort, in the presence of the victims' families, authorities and local residents.
    Events promoted by the committee representing victims' families also included a torchlight procession to the local church, where the Archbishops of Pescara-Penne Tommaso Valentinetti is scheduled to celebrate mass.
    Another commemoration will take place at 2:30 pm at the sports center of Pecce, where rescuers were based a year ago.
    Poetry readings and a concert with tenor Piero Mazzocchetti and the Claudio Monteverdi Youth Orchestra are scheduled later in the afternoon.
    The commemoration will end at 6 pm with the chorus Monte Camicia and artists from the group "Le stanze di Federico & Friends" who have recorded a song called 'Dove la neve non cade', or where the snow doesn't fall.
    President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Paolo Gentiloni are scheduled to meet with the victims' families next Monday, sources said Thursday.
    On January 18 last year an avalanche hit the resort as 40 people, including guests and staff, were inside, while the region was grappling with extreme weather conditions and the hotel was engulfed by snow.
    Some of the 29 victims were instantly crushed to death while others who remained trapped died of hypothermia and asphyxiation.
    Prosecutors are investigating a total of 23 people over delays prior to the incident in cleaning out the only road connecting the hotel to town and in subsequently getting help quickly.
    Investigators suspect that local authorities had not taken seriously calls for help from two people who escaped the hotel.
    Rescuers reached the site several hours after the incident and had to travel on foot because roads had been blocked by heavy snow.