At least 28 people remain missing, feared dead, after an upscale Italian hotel was buried by an avalanche.

Rescue workers managed to reach the remains of the Hotel Rigopiano on Thursday, but found no signs of life. Twenty guests and eight staff members were reportedly inside the three-storey hotel when the avalanche hit. Several children are believed to be among the missing guests.

The incident was triggered by a series of earthquakes that struck central Italy’s Abruzzo region, east of Rome.

The Guardian reported a local fire service spokesperson, Luca Cari, as saying that “only a little piece” of the hotel is still standing. “Tonnes of snow, uprooted trees and debris have buried the area where the hotel was,” Cari said.

Hotel Rigopiano stood approximately 1,200 metres above sea-level in the Gran Sasso mountain range. Several earthquakes on Wednesday, ranging from 5.1 to 5.7 in magnitude, triggered a series of avalanches in the region.