World News for Students of English

23-01-2017 15:00

It was a race against time in the worst possible conditions. A rescue team went towards an isolated hotel. The hotel was under snow after four earthquakes started an avalanche in the central Italian region.

People believed that at least 20 guests and seven members of staff were trapped inside the hotel. The road was still blocked by snow and cars were of little use. The team of rescuers had to go to the hotel through the storm on skis. They had only the light from their head torches to help navigate through the terrain.

Once they were at the hotel, they quickly started to search for life. After digging their way inside, they found one lucky guest, shaken, but unharmed, but the situation of many others is still uncertain.

In August last year, a huge earthquake hit the same mountainous region, which left 298 people dead. This latest natural disaster is likely to deliver even more tragedy.

Difficult words: avalanche (a sudden movement of a lot of amount of snow down the hill), torch (a small battery powered thing that produces light), terrain (ground).

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