Rescuers have advised journalists and bystanders to leave Amatrice urgently, as “the town is crumbling”, the BBC’s Jenny Hill says.
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Crews are using heavy equipment, shovels and their bare hands, as they pull chunks of cement, stone and metal from mounds of rubble that were once homes.
Italy’s civil protection agency said the death toll had risen to 250 Thursday afternoon with at least 365 others hospitalized. “She’s alive!” a witness joyously cries.
Emergency crews searched for survivors on Thursday after a 6.2 magnitude natural disaster killed more than 200 people in central Italy.
“We saw unfortunately only bodies pulled out”, CNN contributor Barbie Nadeau said from the village, where 22 people were killed.
“It’s not easy for them”, said civil protection volunteer Tiziano De Carolis, who was helping to care for about 350 homeless in Amatrice.
“We didn’t see any happy stories here”, she said. “Georgia had used her body to protect her little sister because she was not harmed at all”, Ms Cafini told the Mail Online. “They have given us a lovely example, because their pain did not take away their dignity”.
“I haven’t slept much because I was really afraid”, said 70-year-old Arturo Onesi from the town of Arquata del Tronto, who spent the night in a tent camp for survivors and rescue workers.
Another 264 people have been moved to a hospital for treatment.
Premier Matteo Renzi, visiting the quake-affected zone Wednesday, promised to rebuild “and guarantee a reconstruction that will allow residents to live in these communities, to relaunch these lovely towns that have a wonderful past that will never end”.
Global Affairs Canada said 72 Canadians were registered as being in the affected area when the quake struck.
“Canada continues to stand behind the people of Italy during this hard period”.
In hard-hit Pescara del Tronto, firefighter Franco Mantovan said Thursday that crews knew of three residents still under the rubble but in a hard-to-reach area.
The State Dept. advised USA citizens to avoid the region of central Italy near the towns of Amatrice, Accumoli, Arquata del Tronto, and Pescara del Tronto. Most of the dead – 184 – were in Amatrice.
“Many cases have shown in the past that even after two days people can be rescued alive”, he said.
The towns, situated amid remote, mountainous terrain, are particularly popular in the summer with tourists seeking a scenic getaway from the heat of the city.
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By the account of the town’s mayor, Sergio Pirozzi, up to 200 of the dead were residents or visitors, swelling Amatrice’s population ahead of the 50th annual festival celebrating “spaghetti all’Amatriciana”, which was supposed to take place this weekend.
