Aftershocks strike terror into the hearts of survivors
AMATRICE: The death toll from a devastating earthquake in central Italy reached at least 241 yesterday and could rise further after rescue teams worked through the night to try to find survivors under the rubble of flattened towns.
The 6.2 magnitude quake struck a cluster of mountain communities 140km east of Rome early on Wednesday as people slept, destroying hundreds of homes.
The Civil Protection department officially revised the death toll down to 241 from a previous 247 given earlier yesterday.
Officials said they expected to confirm more deaths as the search operation continued. Trucks full of rubble left the area every few minutes, including one in which a dusty doll could be seen lying on top of tons of debris.
Yesterday, the sun rose on frightened people who had slept in cars or tents, the earth continuing to tremble under their feet from aftershocks, hundreds of which have struck since the quake. Two registered 5.1 and 5.4, just before dawn.
“I haven’t slept much because I was really afraid,” said 70-yearold Arturo Onesi from the town of Arquata del Tronto, who spent the night in a tent camp for survivors and rescue workers.
The earthquake was powerful enough to be felt in Bologna to the north and Naples to the south, both more than 220km from the epicentre. Many of those killed or injured were holidaymakers in the four worsthit towns – Amatrice, Pescara del Tronto, Arquata del Tronto and Accumoli – where populations increase by up to tenfold in the summer. That makes it harder to track the deaths.
One Spaniard, five Romanians, and a number of other foreigners, some of them caregivers for the elderly, were believed to be among the dead, officials said.
Aerial video taken by drones showed swathes of Amatrice, last year voted one of Italy’s most beautiful historic towns, completely flattened. The town, known across Italy and beyond for a local pasta dish, had been filling up for the 50th edition of a popular food festival this weekend.
The mayor said the bodies of 15 to 20 tourists were believed to be under the rubble of the Hotel Roma, which he said had about 32 guests when it collapsed on Wednesday morning.
About 270 people injured in Wednesday’s quake were hospitalised, the Civil Protection department said, adding that about 5 000 people, including police, firefighters, army troops and volunteers, were involved in post-quake operations. Rescuers working with emergency lighting saved a 10-year-old girl, pulling her alive from the rubble where she had lain for about 15 hours. – Reuters