Children saved but two die in tragedy on island
RESCUE: BOYS ARE PULLED FREE FROM EARTHQUAKE IN TOURIST RESORT
A SEVEN-MONTH-OLD baby was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake struck a holiday island off the coast of Italy.
The child, named only as Pasquale, was one of three boys rescued from the wreckage of a house in Casamicciola, on the island of Ischia near Naples, Italy, a day after a 4.0-magnitude quake hit the Italian resort island.
Eight-year-old Mattias and 11-year-old Ciro were also taken from the damaged house after a 14-hour rescue operation.
Only Ciro suffered injuries with a minor fracture to his right foot. He is credited with helping save Mattias by pushing him under a bed, and drawing rescuers’ attention by banging a broom handle on the rubble. Hospital officials said the boys are expected to be released today.
At least two people were killed in the quake while 39 were injured and 2,600 left homeless.
The fatalities were an elderly woman who was in a church that crumbled in the quake, and a second person who has been located in the rubble but not yet extracted. Video released by firefighters showed rescuers passing baby Pasquale out of the collapsed structure in hardest-hit Casamicciola. The Ansa news agency said cries of joy went up in the crowd of rescuers and onlookers and the boys’ mother ran to take him. Mattias and Ciro were rescued hours later.
MORE THAN 2,600 people were left homeless after an earthquake killed at least two people on an Italian holiday island.
The quake hit Ischia off the coast of Naples during the height of the tourist season on Monday night, and Italian television showed many visitors taking refuge in parks following the tragedy.
The fatalities were an elderly woman who was in a church that crumbled in the quake, and a second person who has been located in the rubble but not yet extracted.
The quake hit during the height of the tourist season, and Italian television showed many visitors taking refuge in parks following the quake. Authorities began organising ferries to take tourists back to the mainland.
Together with the nearby island of Capri, Ischia – in the Gulf of Naples – is a favourite getaway for the European jetset, famed in particular for its thermal waters.
Casamicciola was the epicentre of an 1883 earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people.
Images from the quake zone show many buildings collapsed into rubble, while others showed signs of structural damage with deep cracks in exterior walls. Cars were overturned.
The extent of the damage for a relatively light quake raised questions about the quality of construction on the island in the seismically active area off Naples and the active volcano, and the prevalence of illegally built structures.
Fabrizio Pistolesi, the head of Italy’s national architecture advisory board, told Sky that many buildings on the island were built before seismic codes were adopted. He also cited the high incidence of illegal construction on Ischia and generally in the Campagna region that includes the resort island and Naples.
Former Naples prosecutor Aldo De Chiara told Corriere della
Sera that most of the recently constructed buildings on Ischia were built without necessary permits, and many with poorquality cement. “We warned about the risk of collapses,” he said. “Unfortunately, what we had denounced happened last night.”
The head of Italy’s Civil Protection Agency, Angelo Borrelli, told reporters that 2,000 people had been left homeless in Casamicciola and 600 in Lacco Ameno. He said authorities were checking the stability of hotels.