The death toll from a devastating quake in central Italy rose to at least 247 people early on Thursday after rescue teams worked through the night to try to find survivors under the rubble of flattened towns.
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Rescue crews using bulldozers and their bare hands raced to dig out survivors Thursday from a strong quake that reduced three central Italian towns to rubble.
The 6.2-magnitude quake struck at 3:36 a.m. and reduced three towns in central Italy to rubble. The 6.2 magnitude quake leveled most of three cities.
The mayor of Amatrice says his town “isn’t here anymore”.
Among the victims in the small towns and villages in the mountainous area where the regions of Umbria, Lazio and Le Marche meet is Martina Turco.
A CNN crew in Amatrice was filming in front of a house when the structure partially collapsed, and others around it were completely flattened. Other fatalities were reported in the nearby towns of Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto.
Spain’s foreign ministry says at least one Spaniard has died in the natural disaster in central Italy. “Quiet, quiet”, one rescue worker said, according to The Associated Press.
The relief team soon discover that the buried person is a 10-year-old girl called Julia, trapped under the debris since the quake struck. “Slowly, slowly. Mind her head”, they say to one another as onlookers applaud in support.
Among the victims of an natural disaster in Italy was an 18-month-old girl whose mother survived the deadly quake of 2009 in nearby L’Aquila and moved away from there after that bad experience. “We saw our cameras shaking, and journalists here too were panicking”, said CNN producer Margot Haddad.
David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences at Britain’s Open University, said the shallowness of Wednesday’s quake had made it more destructive.
The hunt for survivors continues with rescue workers asking locals to disable their wi-fi passwords to aid efforts.
CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen saw machinery moving in through the narrow lanes in Amatrice and rescuers using sniffer dogs to help find more bodies. Many are feared to be in the rubble, though several were pulled out and given medical care.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s cabinet was meeting on Thursday to decide emergency measures to help the affected communities.
Italy’s culture ministry has decreed that proceeds from public museums across Italy this Sunday will be dedicated to helping restore damaged buildings in the quake zone.
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“It was one of the most attractive towns of Italy and now there’s nothing left”, she said, too distraught to give her name.
