With 368 people injured, some critically, and an unknown number trapped under rubble, the death toll from Wednesday’s pre-dawn quake was expected to rise further, officials warned.
Advertisement
In the meantime, volunteers and rescue crews are in a race against time to free those still trapped under the rubble.
A desperate search for survivors in central Italy, as rescuers pull people, like this woman in Amatrice, from the rubble and dig through the crumbled pieces of historic buildings, blocking streets, making it hard to get help and heavy equipment into the places with the most damage.
He did not say how many people were still thought to be missing.
The death toll had reached 120, prime minister Matteo Renzi confirmed.
Hundreds of people were to spend a chilly night in hastily-assembled tents with the risk of aftershocks making it far too risky for them to return home. The epicenter was centered near the town of Norcia, Italy, about 100 miles from Rome, where buildings also reportedly swayed from the resulting tremors.
Italy’s health minister, Beatrice Lorenzin, visiting the devastated area, said numerous victims were children: The quake zone is a popular spot for Romans with second homes, and the population swells in August when most Italians take their summer holiday before school resumes. Numerous victims were from Rome.
The devastation harked back to the 2009 quake that killed more than 300 people in and around L’Aquila, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of the latest quake. Other fatalities were reported in the nearby towns of Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto. I wasn’t here, but as soon as the quake happened I rushed here.
“They managed to pull my sister’s children out, they’re in hospital now”.
In neighboring Accumoli a family of four, including two boys aged 8 months and 9 years, were buried when their house collapsed.
Renzi said a woman who owns a bed and breakfast across the street escaped by knotting bed sheets and climbing down her building.
“It was one of the most attractive towns of Italy and now there’s nothing left”.
“The town isn’t here anymore”, said Sergio Pirozzi, the mayor of Amatrice. Tremors felt as far as Rome, almost 100 miles away.
Photo: A man reacts to his damaged home after a strong quake hit Amatrice, Italy, on August 24, 2016.
People come to Amatrice for the folklore, the traditions and the food, especially pasta Amatriciana, featuring chewy bits of pork jowl, pecorino cheese and tomato sauce. It is popular with Romans seeking cool mountain air at the height of the summer. The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. (0136 GMT) and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy. But amid the rubble, the town’s clock tower stood tall, with the clock stopped at the time the quake struck.
A 6.2-magnitude natural disaster hit southeast of Norcia, Italy, according to the United States Geological Survey. A 5.4-magnitude aftershock followed an hour later.
Advertisement
Instead, they will now be mourning the dozens dead from a strong natural disaster that trapped residents in their homes as they slept.
