Italy quake death toll hits 250 as rescuers search demolished towns

AMATRICE: The death toll from a devastating earthquake in central Italy climbed to at least 250 on Thursday and could rise further with rescue teams working for a second day to try to find survivors under the rubble of flattened towns.

The 6.2 magnitude quake struck a cluster of mountain communities 140 km east of Rome early on Wednesday as people slept, destroying hundreds of homes.

An army of emergency workers using sniffer dogs clambered over piles of debris trying to find anyone still buried beneath, while cranes removed huge slabs of fallen masonry and trucks full of rubble left the area every few minutes.

On Thursday afternoon a violent aftershock measuring magnitude 4.3 sent rescuers fleeing from debris and stones that fell from the severely damaged bell tower of the 15th century church of St. Augustine in Amatrice.

The jolt, which struck fear and panic in survivors, detached the church’s facade, leaving it leaning dangerously over the main street where rescuers worked.

The original earthquake was powerful enough to be felt in Bologna to the north and Naples to the south, both more than 220 km from the epicentre.

Many of those killed or injured were holidaymakers in the four worst-hit towns - Amatrice, Pescara del Tronto, Arquata del Tronto and Accumoli - where seasonal visitors swell populations by up to tenfold the summer.

That makes it harder to track the deaths.