Boy of 14 among three Britons killed in quake
Teen was on family holiday – mum and dad are seriously hurt
Death toll in Italy hits 250 as rescuers comb through debris
AT LEAST three Britons – including a 14-year-old boy – were killed in the Italian earthquake, it was reported last night.
The news came hours after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson warned that British nationals had ‘been affected’ by the disaster – but refused to give any more details.
One report said the unnamed teenager had been on holiday in devastated Amatrice with his parents and sister, and they had been staying in an apartment in the historic town.
His parents – said to be from London – were seriously injured and taken to nearby hospitals, but his sister is understood to have escaped unharmed.
A spokesman for Rieti hospital told The Mirror: ‘The British woman was brought here by rescue workers on Wednesday while her husband was taken to L’Aquila.
‘When we discovered he was there we decided they would be happier together, so we decided to reunite them. Since the man was less badly hurt it was easier to bring him to her.
‘We hope that they can be a support to each other.’
Earlier, Mr Johnson said: ‘As the scale of the disaster has become clearer we now know that a number of British nationals have been affected. British Embassy staff are in the region providing consular support, and we have deployed additional staff to support this effort.’
But the Foreign Office refused to offer any more information about the situation, despite the area being popular with UK holidaymakers.
As the death toll from Wednesday’s earthquake reached 250 – with dozens of people still missing – a woman told of how her eight-year-old granddaughter sacrificed her life to save her younger sister.
Giulia Rinaldi died after using her body to shield her four-year-old sister Giorgia, who was found alive in the debris 15 hours after the tremor struck.
Giulia’s death is just one of the tragic tales emerging from Amatrice, Accumoli, Pescara del Tronto and surrounding villages which were ravaged by a 6.2-magnitude quake in the early hours.
The girls’ grandmother Angela Cafini said Giorgia had remarkably survived unharmed, and asked res-
‘One was alive, the other was dead’
cuers for a drink within seconds of the concrete being pulled off her. The sisters were found by a sniffer dog in the rubble of their home in Pescara del Tronto. The village, with a population of 100, has been virtually wiped from the map.
Mrs Cafini, 64, said: ‘They were together. One was alive and the other was dead.
‘Giulia had used her body to protect her little sister because she was not harmed at all. She has no injuries.
‘It is a miracle that she is alive, but I am torn. I have lost one granddaughter and one has lived.’
The two girls and their parents Michaela and Fabio, who live in Rome, were holidaying in the village. Mr and Mrs Rinaldi suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital. Mrs Cafini, who was in another house, escaped unhurt.
The sisters’ aunt, Francesca Sirianni, 31, said of their father Fabio: ‘He saw his daughters’ little legs disappearing into their room and he was convinced they had both died. But after 15 hours they managed to pull Giorgia out alive, but alas not Giulia.’
Fire chief Angelo Moroni said a labrador called Leo found the girls, barking and leading the rescuers to a spot where they started digging with their hands.
He added: ‘ In those terrible moments you’re not really thinking, you just move on like a robot for hours and hours without feeling either fatigue or thirst. All you want is to save people. We dug for 12 hours – I really hope Giorgia will forget all this one day.
‘We saw she was well only when I placed her on the stretcher and the paramedics took her.
‘As soon as she was out of the mass of ruins, Giorgia said she was thirsty and wanted to drink – she reacted well. At that point our happiness exploded and we started cheering and applauding.’ Silvano Pala, 70, a retired builder, said he had survived only because he had rebuilt his house in the spring with stronger materials.
He added: ‘I don’t think I will go and live there again.
‘Or this time I will rebuild a new house, from wood.’
Mr Pala, who was unable to help rescuers, following two hip replacements, added: ‘I saw a couple of young children on the ground. Two were already dead, one died later in hospital. They were under the concrete.’
In the town of Amatrice, rescuers are scouring the wreckage of the Hotel Roma.
Officials said the hotel had more than 30 guests when it collapsed. Some escaped, but five bodies have been pulled from the rubble and between ten and 20 guests are believed to be missing.