Strong aftershocks continued to strike central Italy on Friday, as rescue crews began to lose hope of finding additional survivors two days after a deadly natural disaster that killed at least 267 people.
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Overnight, residents of the area were rattled yet again by a series of aftershocks.
After Wednesday’s 6.2-magnitude quake that reduced villages to rubble, the US Geological Survey recorded a series of aftershocks ranging between magnitude 4.1 and 4.7.
There are no missing person in the Marche region, however, at least 15 people are still missing in the nearly flattened town Amatrice, Mayor Sergio Pirozzi said Friday in an interview.
“I was extremely saddened to see the tragic loss of life following the devastating quake in central Italy, which now includes the death of a Canadian citizen”. There, four large white refrigerated trucks were being used as a makeshift morgue, where relatives arrived in a steady stream Friday to identify loved ones.
At least eight foreigners were killed, including three British citizens who were visiting Amatrice, a local official told the BBC.
Rescue workers used sniffer dogs on Friday to search the rubble for survivors of an quake that hit central Italy on Wednesday. Crews have been digging through the rubble of collapsed buildings trying to find survivors of the quake that has left at least 267 people dead. “Their thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the natural disaster”.
From Friday to the holidays, Le Virtù will be donating $3 for every sale of its Pasta all’ Amatriciana and Spaghetti alla Gricia. “It’s necessary because even if they didn’t make it, they must be returned to their families”. She is now in the hospital in stable condition. Around 270 people injured in the quake have been hospitalized and hundreds of others have been left homeless, the civil protection department said.
The Italian Council of Ministers approved a state of emergency Thursday for the regions affected by the quake, allocating 50 million euros (about $56.5 million) in funding.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella flew to Amatrice by helicopter on Saturday to see the damage first hand before travelling on later in the morning to the nearby city of Ascoli Piceno for the funeral of up to 40 of the victims.
“I can not find the words to describe the grief of a father who outlives his own children. Perhaps there are no words”, Marco’s father, Filippo Santarelli, told Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Later in the day, a funeral service for six other victims, including an 8-year-old boy and two girls aged 14 and 15, was held in their hometown of Pomezia, south of Rome.
Rescue efforts continued, but by nightfall, two full days had passed since the last person was extracted alive from the rubble.
The Civil Protection agency which is coordinating the rescue effort said that in addition to the dead, 365 people had suffered injuries serious enough to be hospitalised. “They believe it’s about 72 hours those people would be able to survive”, Pleitgen said.
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“Rescuers are very much aware they’re in a race against time”, said CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen, describing the disaster response as swift and well-organized.
