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Girl found alive under avalanche

RESTELICA, Kosovo -- A 5-year-old girl was pulled alive from the rubble of a house flattened by an avalanche that killed her parents and at least seven of her relatives in a remote mountain village, officials said Sunday.

The girl was discovered when her voice and cellphone were heard. Her home was buried under 33 feet of snow.

Rescuers cheered and pumped their fists in the air late Saturday as the girl was rescued alive.

The avalanche in the village of Restelica near the border with Macedonia and Albania destroyed seven houses, of which only two were inhabited.

"No bigger tragedy has ever struck this region," said a local district official.

The girl, Asmira Reka, had been buried for more than 10 hours.

She was recovering in the nearby town of Prizren.

-- AP

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