ROME

The death toll from last week's avalanche disaster which hit a mountain resort in central Italy has risen to 29, local media reported on Thursday.

The bodies of five more victims were located at the Hotel Rigopiano on the Gran Sasso mountain range in the central Abruzzo region, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported.

Search efforts have now ended.

As an investigation into the incident continues, there have been criticisms that rescue teams were late in getting to the site of the disaster.

According to a list shared by rescue teams, at time of the last Wednesday's avalanche, 40 people were present at the hotel, of which 28 were guests and 12 were hotel personnel.

A total of 11 people survived the avalanche, which is thought to have been caused by an earthquake that shook the mountainous region last week.

Reporting by Baris Seckin; Writing by Fatih Hafiz Mehmet