Girl died to save sister
ROME
AN eight-year-old girl saved her young sister’s life by using her body as a shield as their house collapsed around them during the devastating earthquake in Italy this week.
Giulia Rinaldi died, but her four-year-old sister Giorgia was found alive in the debris 15 hours after the tremor.
The death toll stood at 250 last night, but a police officer said he thought it would reach 500.
Giulia’s death is just one of the tragic tales emerging from Amatrice, Accumoli, Pescara del Tronto and surrounding villages which were ravaged by a 6.2-magnitude quake in the early morning.
The girls’ grandmother Angela Cafini said Giorgia had survived unharmed, and asked rescuers for a drink within seconds of the concrete being pulled off her.
The sisters were found by a sniffer dog in the rubble of their home in Pescara del Tronto. The village, with a population of 100, has been virtually wiped from the map.
Mrs Cafini, 64, said: ‘They were together. One was alive and the other was dead. Giulia had used her body to protect her little sister because she was not harmed at all.
“She has no injuries. It is a miracle that she is alive, but I am torn. I have lost one granddaughter and one has lived.”
The two girls and their parents, Michaela and Fabio, who live in Rome, were holidaying in the village. Mr and Mrs Rinaldi suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital. Mrs Cafini, who was staying at another house, escaped unhurt.
Fire chief Angelo Moroni said a labrador, Leo, found the girls, barking and leading the rescuers to a spot where they started digging with hands. He said: “In those terrible moments you’re not really thinking, you just move on like a robot for hours and hours without feeling either fatigue or thirst.
“All you want is to save people. We dug for 12 hours – I really hope Giorgia will forget all this one day.”
Silvano Pala, 70, a retired builder, said he had survived only because he had rebuilt his house in the spring with stronger materials.
He said: “Everything was moving up and down and shaking.”