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Quake And Aftershocks Rattle Central Italy; 250 Dead

An official in Amatrice told the BBC at least three British citizens were among the people killed in the town, which was one of the worst affected areas following the quake on Wednesday morning.

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At least 250 people were killed and countless more injured when a 6.2-magnitude quake struck central Italy on Tuesday night.

“When we discovered he was there we decided they would be happier together, so we chose to reunite them”.

Before and after picture of a street in Amatrice, central Italy.

At least 470 aftershocks have since rattled the area, triggering more damage to centuries-old buildings in Amatrice.

Aftershocks have been felt in central Italy as rescue workers continued efforts to find survivors.

While 365 people are being treated in hospital for injuries from the quake, there are potentially hundreds more people trapped under the rubble in the sleepy little hillside villages.

Global Affairs Canada said 72 Canadians were registered as being in the affected area when the natural disaster struck.

Geologists surveyed the damage Thursday to determine which buildings were still inhabitable, while Culture Ministry teams were fanning out to assess the damage to some of the region’s cultural treasures, especially its medieval-era churches. The death toll from a powerful quake in central Italy has risen to 247, Italian authorities confirmed early on Thursday.

“Unfortunately, 90 percent we pull out are dead, but some make it, that’s why we are here”, said Christian Bianchetti, a volunteer from Rieti who was working in devastated Amatrice.

The aftermath of the deadly quake in Italy has started to show a very grim picture, with more than 240 people confirmed dead from the disaster.

It is understood that the two children of the apartment’s owners survived. Their convictions were overturned on appeal.

Gianni Macerata, the fire officer in charge of rescue operations said after they pulled a dog free from the rubble: “It doesn’t matter to us if it’s a person or an animal, we save it.” . While hopes of finding more people alive diminished by the hour, firefighters’ spokesman Luca Cari recalled that survivors were found in L’Aquila up to 72 hours after that quake. In Amatrice, some 50 elderly and children spent the night inside a local sports facility. “They have lost everything: the work of an entire life, like those who have a business, a shop, a pharmacy, a grocery store”.

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The extensive damage to lightly-used properties has raised the spectre of some of the smaller hamlets in the region becoming ghost towns.

Rescuers search for more survivors in Amarice Italy