Rescue workers have recovered the bodies of all of those missing after an avalanche struck a mountainside hotel in central Italy, the fire service in Rome said early today, bringing the death toll to 29.

The four-star Rigopiano Hotel was struck by a massive avalanche last week, after a powerful Magnitude-5 earthquake shook the same region.

Eleven people survived, including four children and two people who were outside at the time the avalanche struck.

On Jan 18, a 120,000-tonne mass of snow barrelled down a mountain, tore through a forest, and slammed into the hotel at a speed of about 100 kilometres per hour.

Italian prosecutors are considering possible manslaughter and negligent disaster charges over the deaths in the hotel.

Investigators are to examine why distress calls from the hotel were underestimated, why the arrival of a turbine-powered snow plough was delayed until long after the avalanche hit, and whether emergency protocols were in place and followed.

Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has warned against the temptation of scapegoating.

"I don't share this rising desire for scapegoats and avengers, because history is quick to turn the avengers into scapegoats," Gentiloni told the Senate.

"The government doesn't fear the truth, which should drive us to do better, not poison the well."

The government has allocated 4 billion euros (RM19.1 billion) to earthquake relief and reconstruction and more is forthcoming in the wake of the latest extreme events in central Italy, which suffered a series of earthquakes last year.

Investigators are also looking into the process of planning permission that led to the expansion of the hotel, state prosecutor Cristina Tedeschini said.

Formerly a mountain hut at an altitude of 1,200 metres in Italy's picturesque Apennine mountains, the Rigopiano was expanded into a four-star hotel and spa in the early 1970s.

- dpa