The number of people killed at the central Italian ski hotel hit by a major avalanche last week rose to 16 on Monday after rescuers pulled out six more bodies.
The bodies are those of three men and two women, Italy's fire brigade said. In a Tweet on Tuesday, the fire brigade described as "extreme" the conditions on the Abruzzo mountainside where the avalanche struck the Hotel Rigopiano at 5pm on 18 January.
Rescuers working around the clock to save any other survivors trapped inside the hotel, which partially collapsed in the avalanche and is buried under several metres of snow and ice.
Eleven people including four children survived the disaster while 13 people were still missing on Tuesday.
Rescuers say there is still a faint hope that some could still be alive inside air pockets.
Firefighters were on Tuesday trying to punch a hole through an 80 centimetre concrete wall into the hotel bar.