Story highlights
- Five people still considered missing after avalanche wrecked central Italian hotel
- Judicial inquiries will look into "delays and responsibilities," Prime Minister says
(CNN)The death toll from the avalanche that wrecked Hotel Rigopiano in Italy's Abruzzo region is now 24, according to the Italian wire service ANSA.
Firefighters recovered six more bodies from the site of the destroyed hotel, lowering the number of people missing after the disaster to five.
Eleven people survived the disaster, nine of whom were plucked from the hotel ruins by rescue teams, ANSA reported.
Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni lauded Italy's emergency and rescue teams, calling them "exemplary citizens" during an address to the country's Senate on Wednesday, the wire service reported.
"The gratitude to the 11,000 people who have intervened to save lives must be strong and unanimous," he was quoted as saying.
Wednesday's death toll update came a day after news reports emerged that the central Italian hotel's director urgently called for assistance just hours before the avalanche came rushing down the mountain last week.
In an email to local officials, the director said guests were "terrified," roads were blocked due to heavy snow and phones were out of service.
Prosecutors are examining his call for help.
"Should there have been delays and responsibilities, they will be brought to light by judicial inquiries," Gentiloni told the Senate on Wednesday, according to ANSA. "The government does not fear the truth, which is needed to do better and not to poison the wells."
'We ask you to intervene'
Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel
The coffin of avalanche victim Alessandro Giancaterino is carried to his funeral service in Farindola, central Italy, on Tuesday, January 24. A series of earthquakes that struck on January 18 caused an avalanche at the foot of Gran Sasso mountain in central Italy, about 135 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of Rome, burying guests and staff of Hotel Rigopiano, a local mountain resort.
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Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel
Emergency crew members carry three puppies that were dug out from under the snow covering Hotel Rigopiano on Monday, January 23. Rescuers cheered the discovery of the dogs, whose survival brings hope for those people who are still missing.
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Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel
Italian rescuers and volunteers continue a rescue operation on Sunday, January 22 at the site of the avalanche that inundated Hotel Rigapiano.
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Migrants volunteering with the Italian Red Cross stand ready at the avalanche emergency operations center at Penna, central Italy, on Saturday, January 21.
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A rescuer rests at a sports complex turned emergency coordination center in Penne on January 21.
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One of three children rescued from the avalanche zone is transported to a hospital in Pescara, on Friday, January 20.
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Another of the three children rescued on Friday is carried by rescuers to the hospital in Pescara.
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Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel
An aerial view shows the roof and top floor of the three-story Hotel Rigopiano buried in snow after the avalanche struck at the foot of Gran Sasso mountain in central Italy on Thursday, January 19.
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Rescuers stand by two cars submerged in snow as they work in front of the Rigopiano Hotel on January 19.
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A rescuer clears snow in front of the hotel.
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Rescue workers were met with an eerie silence Thursday when they reached Hotel Rigapiano, a four-star spa hotel struck by an avalanche.
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Rescuers are dropped by helicopter near the site of the avalanche. Weather conditions in the region made it difficult to access the area by road.
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Snow and rubble fill a hallway inside Hotel Rigopiano. The area is a popular ski destination for Italian tourists.
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Italian emergency crews operate at the site of the avalanche on January 19. Central Italy was hit by more than 10 earthquakes on Wednesday, January 18, four of them measuring magnitude 5 or above, according to the US Geological Survey.
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Damage from the avalanche is seen in an image taken from video shot by rescuers inside Hotel Rigopiano.
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Rescuers dig for avalanche survivors after skiing several kilometers through blizzard conditions to reach the hotel, on January 19.
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The four-star hotel at the foot of the Gran Sasso mountain about 135 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of Rome was buried in snow January 18 after a series of earthquakes in the region earlier in the day.
Bruno Di Tommaso, director of the hotel, sent an email to provincial authorities in Pescara -- the main town in the area -- plus the local police and mayor of nearby Farindola after 2 p.m. January 18, ANSA reported.
Di Tommaso was not at the hotel at the time, but he described a "worrisome" situation: The hotel had been inundated with 2 meters (6.5 feet) of snow, phones were down, roads were blocked, the hotel was down to about a day's worth of diesel to fuel its generator and guests were sleeping in cars because they were afraid to come inside after the quake.
"Aware of the general difficulties, we ask you to intervene," Di Tommaso wrote.
The avalanche hit later, around 4.30 p.m.
Rescue efforts under extreme conditions
Puppies rescued from avalanche site 00:53
Days after the disaster, rescuers continue to hold out hope of finding more survivors.
Three sheepdog puppies were discovered alive under the rubble Monday, sparking renewed optimism.
A video released by Italy's fire and rescue service Tuesday showed rescue efforts under way amid extreme conditions.
Walter Milan, spokesman for the elite National Alpine Cliff and Cave Rescue Corps, was one of the first on the scene.
"In some ways the conditions make it harder now because of ice and the real risk of a new avalanche," he told CNN Tuesday.
"Of course, there is still hope of finding someone alive in an air pocket. There will be hope until the last body is accounted for. If someone is sheltering in a room with food and water, they could easily survive."
