Towns to be rebuilt at ‘marathon’ speed

AMATRICE: Rescue teams scoured mounds of rubble for a second day in towns in central Italy flattened by a devastating 6.2-magnitude earthquake early on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi promised to rebuild the shattered houses and said he would renew efforts to bolster Italy’s flimsy defences against earthquakes that regularly batter the country.

“We want those communities to have the chance of a future and not just memories,” he told reporters in Rome.

Renzi declined to predict when the homeless might be rehoused, but said it was his government’s top priority. “This is not about making promises. We need the pace of a marathon runner,” he said.

As night fell yesterday, rescuers said they had pulled 215 people from the rubble, but as the hours passed only bodies were recovered.

The death toll has reached 250. – Reuters