Quake survivors protest in Rome as avalanche toll hits 25

Hundreds of Italians whose homes were devastated in a series of deadly earthquakes protested in Rome today at the slow pace of government aid, as the death toll from an avalanche-hit hotel rose to 25 with four people still missing.
The demonstrators, many of them from mountain villages left in ruins by the earthquakes which rocked Italy in August and October, urged the government to move faster on providing aid to populations still reeling from disaster.
With some wearing sashes in the red, white and green of the Italian flag, they marched through Rome's historic city centre toward the Montecitorio parliament building, carrying signs reading: "To rebuild, we need hearts and hands. Where are yours?"

Another held up a placard reading: "Bureaucracy kills more than the earthquake."
"We came to protest the government's delays on reconstruction work," protest coordinator Mirko Fioravanti told AFP, saying little had been done in since August.
"Few things have been accomplished in five months, not even the essential," he said.

"Even if the task is great, things could have been done in a manner better suited to the situation, and definitely much faster."
Among the crowd were survivors from Amatrice, the mountain town devastated by the August quake which left nearly 300 people dead, while others came from the towns of Accumoli, Norcia, and Arquata del Tronto.

Last year's quakes left thousands of homes in ruins or structurally unsafe, emptying a string of villages and small towns across Italy's mountainous central regions, with an estimated 40,000 people forced to find shelter.
Writing on Facebook, former prime minister Matteo Renzi said the delivery of temporary homes for quake victims was due to take place "before Easter".
But Francesca Mileto, another protest coordinator, said the pace was too slow. "We want to shock the bureaucracy into speeding up these cumbersome procedures," she told AFP.
The protest came as rescuers struggled to find the last four people still unaccounted for, presumed dead, at the Hotel Rigopiano in central Italy which was buried by a wall of snow on January 18.

So far, rescuers have found the bodies of 13 men and 12 women, but until now, only half of them have been formally identified, officials said.