Penne, Italy (CNN) More people have been found alive under the wreckage of Italy's Rigopiano Hotel, according to Luca Cari, the spokeman for Italy's National Fire Brigade.

This brings the number of survivors to 11. Six people have been found dead and 23 are still missing according to the Italian civil protection agency and fire brigade.

Hotel Rigopiano, a four-star hotel at the foot of the Gran Sasso mountain about 135 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of Rome, was buried in snow Wednesday afternoon after a series of earthquakes.

"The mountain came down"

When the avalanche hit Wednesday, Gianpaolo Parete frantically called his friend Professor Quintino Marcella for help.

Marcella tells CNN that Parete told him: "The mountain came down. Everyone is trapped inside, I survived with another person."

Marcella then called police, but he said his plea for help was "dismissed." At the time of the incident, police told Marcella they spoke with the hotel's manager hours earlier and "all was OK."

Marcella refused to give up.

He called other authorities and asked his other friends to also call authorities -- finally their call for help was acknowledged. But rescue teams arrived several hours later, Marcella told CNN.

Parete, who had been vacationing with his wife and two young children, missed being caught in the destruction only because he had walked to his car to get medicine for his wife just before the avalanche hit.

Marcella told CNN on Saturday that he has met with Parete and can confirm that the wife and children are among the survivors.

Working furiously to rescue people

From Thursday on, rescuers scrambled to find more survivors after the deadly avalanche swallowed the hotel, trapping dozens of people inside.

They heard a hopeful sound in the snow on Friday, after drilling a hole to punch through the roof of the destroyed hotel.

"Angels! Angels!" survivors called out when the rescuers first broke through.

In a highly emotional scene, crews pulled survivors from the avalanche site. They burst into cheers, yelling "Bravo!" as a young boy was lifted from a deep hole in the snow.

A rescue helicopter approaches the avalanche area in Rigopiano, central Italy, Friday.

The survivors were found "in an area of the hotel where there was an air pocket where they could breathe. They didn't light up a fire, but the snow above and below them protected them and kept a steady temperature even during the night," said Marco Bini from the Italian financial police's alpine rescue team.

They showed signs of hypothermia, but none have life-threatening injuries, Bini said.

The hotel was in the process of being evacuated when the avalanche hit, officials said. Guests had settled their bills and were waiting together in the lobby with their luggage.

Snow and debris broke through windows or a thin wall into the Hotel Rigopiano.

The force of the avalanche was so great that the hotel building shifted 10 meters (11 yards) down the slope from its foundations, the Civil Protection Department said. Debris scattered as far as 100 meters (109 yards) from the hotel structure, according to the fire department.

The hotel has 43 rooms and spa facilities, according to website TripAdvisor. All the guests are believed to have been locals who were taking advantage of discounted rates to stay in a normally pricey spa hotel before the peak February skiing season.

Renewed hope

Authorities still hope to find others who could have survived in the air pockets within the building.

"There is hope," Bini said. "Because we found this air pocket, we believe there could be others so yes, we have hope to find others."

The discovery of survivors has given new energy to the search and rescue teams, who are battling freezing conditions and failing light. They are having to work with their hands much of the time because of the treacherous conditions, Bini said.

The rescue workers are trying to get any information they can from the survivors, which might help to locate more people missing under the snow, he said.

Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel The coffin of avalanche victim Alessandro Giancaterino is carried to his funeral service in Farindola, central Italy, on Tuesday, January 24. A series of earthquakes that struck on January 18 caused an avalanche at the foot of Gran Sasso mountain in central Italy, about 135 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of Rome, burying guests and staff of Hotel Rigopiano, a local mountain resort. Hide Caption 1 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel Emergency crew members carry three puppies that were dug out from under the snow covering Hotel Rigopiano on Monday, January 23. Rescuers cheered the discovery of the dogs, whose survival brings hope for those people who are still missing. Hide Caption 2 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel Italian rescuers and volunteers continue a rescue operation on Sunday, January 22 at the site of the avalanche that inundated Hotel Rigapiano. Hide Caption 3 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel Migrants volunteering with the Italian Red Cross stand ready at the avalanche emergency operations center at Penna, central Italy, on Saturday, January 21. Hide Caption 4 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel A rescuer rests at a sports complex turned emergency coordination center in Penne on January 21. Hide Caption 5 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel One of three children rescued from the avalanche zone is transported to a hospital in Pescara, on Friday, January 20. Hide Caption 6 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel Another of the three children rescued on Friday is carried by rescuers to the hospital in Pescara. Hide Caption 7 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel An aerial view shows the roof and top floor of the three-story Hotel Rigopiano buried in snow after the avalanche struck at the foot of Gran Sasso mountain in central Italy on Thursday, January 19. Hide Caption 8 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel Rescuers stand by two cars submerged in snow as they work in front of the Rigopiano Hotel on January 19. Hide Caption 9 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel A rescuer clears snow in front of the hotel. Hide Caption 10 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel Rescue workers were met with an eerie silence Thursday when they reached Hotel Rigapiano, a four-star spa hotel struck by an avalanche. Hide Caption 11 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel Rescuers are dropped by helicopter near the site of the avalanche. Weather conditions in the region made it difficult to access the area by road. Hide Caption 12 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel Snow and rubble fill a hallway inside Hotel Rigopiano. The area is a popular ski destination for Italian tourists. Hide Caption 13 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel Italian emergency crews operate at the site of the avalanche on January 19. Central Italy was hit by more than 10 earthquakes on Wednesday, January 18, four of them measuring magnitude 5 or above, according to the US Geological Survey. Hide Caption 14 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel Damage from the avalanche is seen in an image taken from video shot by rescuers inside Hotel Rigopiano. Hide Caption 15 of 16 Photos: Avalanche buries Italian hotel Rescuers dig for avalanche survivors after skiing several kilometers through blizzard conditions to reach the hotel, on January 19. Hide Caption 16 of 16

Difficult access

Rescue efforts have been hindered by deep snow, combined with the earthquake and the possibility of more avalanches.

Italian rescuers prepare to join the operation near the village of Penne on Friday.

Access to the hotel had been difficult, but road crews cleared much of the snow and fallen trees by Thursday night, allowing heavy rescue equipment to reach the building.

Communication issues are also complicating efforts. Authorities are hoping to bring power back to as many as 90,000 people who were left in darkness overnight from the extreme weather.

Many people slept in shelters overnight Thursday to Friday despite the bitter cold and continuing snowfall because of the fear of more avalanches.