Shocks hit bridges, delay quake relief
Temblors cut off town access; hope for survivors dims.
Rescue workers acknowledged Friday they might not find any more survivors from Italy’s earthquake as they con- fronted a new obstacle to their recovery work: a powerful aftershock that dam- aged two key access bridges to hard-hit Amatrice, threatening to isolate it.
Mayor Sergio Pirozzi warned that if new roads weren’t quickly cleared to bypass the damaged ones, Amatrice risked being cut off at a time it needs as many transport options as possible to bring emergency crews in and the 281 dead out.
“With the aftershocks yesterday but especially this morning the situation has worsened considerably,” Pirozzi told reporters. “We have to make sure Amatrice does not become isolated, or risk further help being unable to get through.”
The biggest aftershock struck at 6:28 a.m., one of the more than 1,000 that have hit the area since Wednesday’s quake. The U.S. Geological Service said it had a magnitude of 4.7.
It left one key access bridge to Amatrice unusable and damaged another one. Crews began clearing trees to create an alternate road. Mean- while, the 25-mile detour on mountain roads that they were forced to use Friday slowed the rescue effort.
Even before the roads were shut down, traffic into and out of Amatrice was con- gested with emergency vehi- cles and dump trucks carrying tons of concrete, rocks and metal down the sin- gle-lane roads.
Multiple ambulances were also bringing the dead to an airport hangar in the provin- cial capital of Rieti, where four big white refrigerated trucks created a makeshift morgue to which relatives came in a steady stream Friday.
Premier Matteo Renzi declared a state of emergency and authorized almost $60 million for immediate quake relief. The Italian government also declared today a day of national mourning and scheduled a state funeral to be attended by President Sergio Mattarella.
Thirty-four caskets were lined up in a gym in Ascoli Piceno ahead of today’s Mass. A memorial service for the Amatrice victims is scheduled for next week.
Rescue efforts continued, but by nightfall, two full days had passed since the last person had been extracted alive from the rubble.
“There is still hope to find survivors under the rubble, even in these hours,” said Walter Milan, a rescue worker. But he conceded: “Certainly, it will be very unlikely.”