Hopes fading for hotel avalanche survivors as death toll climbs to 17

Hopes of finding more survivors after a devastating avalanche buried an Italian resort hotel are fading as the death toll rose to 17, with 12 people still unaccounted for.

As Italy's central Abruzzo region and its rescue crews coped with the ongoing emergency, a second tragedy unfolded nearby when an emergency helicopter crashed at an Apennine ski resort, killing six people.