“No night can last so long that the sun never rises again. And us, we’re humans first, then politicians”.
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Earlier, Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi declared a state of emergency in the area affected by the quake.
Charitable assistance began pouring into the natural disaster zone in traffic-clogging droves on Thursday. In that moment, however, a sniffer dog detected something. “Italy is a family that has been hit and struck, but we are not going to be stopped”.
“They have given us a handsome example, because their pain did not take away their dignity”.
The civil protection department in Rome said almost 400 people were being treated for injuries in hospitals, and 40 of them were in critical condition.
“There is no hope, too many people dead”.
On the ground, there was still determination to account for all missing, even though the number of people still unaccounted for is uncertain given the large number of visitors to the area for the final days of summer. The Romanian government said 11 of its citizens were missing. With each hour, hope dims, but the search continues. “Instead we should focus our efforts on prevention, building with evolved anti-seismic techniques and leaving behind the old cement-based schemes”.
“We will look for places for them to stay – hotels, with relatives”.
Some experts estimate that 70 percent of Italy’s buildings aren’t built to anti-seismic standards, though not all are in high-risk areas.
Italy is no stranger to deadly quakes.
Amatrice only has three roads into town, and one was already closed after Wednesday’s main quake.
Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said Thursday that some 293 historical buildings were damaged or destroyed by the quake, although the most important heritage sites in the region were unscathed.
Italian news reports said the first funerals were to be held Friday for some of the victims: in Rome, for the son of a local police chief who was in Amatrice with friends; in Pomezia Terme for two grandmothers and their two grandchildren.
While there have been cases in the past of people surviving a week or longer in natural disaster rubble-including a woman found 63 days after an natural disaster in Pakistan in 2005 and a man found alive 27 days after the 2010 Haiti quake-rescue operations are usually called off after about seven days.
Historic buildings and city walls in Nursia and a cathedral in San Giuliano also were damaged. He also announced a new initiative, “Italian Homes”, to try and defuse some of the criticism over poor construction which observers say exacerbated the effects of the quake. Their convictions were overturned on appeal.
Rieti Hospital director Pasquale Carducci, told the newspaper: “The British woman was brought here by rescue workers on Wednesday while her husband was taken to L’Aquila”. On Thursday, the sun rose on frightened people who had slept in cars or tents, the earth continuing to tremble under their feet. Many Amatrice residents spent the night outdoors.
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The mayor of quake-struck Accumoli says he welcomes prosecutors’ investigation into the collapse of the town’s recently restored church bell tower, which killed a family of four as it crushed a neighboring home in Wednesday’s natural disaster.
