A robust earthquake rocked Italy overnight killing at least 22 people. Everyone was crushed by falling buildings and much more buried alive under rubble while they slept. The 6.2-magnitude quake hit at around3.30am local time and was so powerful it rocked buildings in the centre of Rome over 100 miles away and was felt across Italy. As daylight dawned, residents, civil protection workers and even priests began digging out with shovels, bulldozers and their bare hands, attempting to reach survivors.
Survivors have described apocalyptic scenes in towns and villages near the town of Perugia – the capital of the tourist-packed Umbrian region, which is especially popular with British holidaymakers. Its epicentre was in Norcia in Umbria, about 105 miles north east of Rome, as the hardest-hit towns were reported as Amatrice, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto.
As everyone was carried out of ruined buildings on stretchers and people desperately searched the debris for survivors or sobbed while they inspected their very own ruined homes, Mayor of Accumoli, Stefano Petrucci, said today:’My town isn’t here anymore ‘.
“Four people are under the rubble, but they are not showing any sign of life. Two parents and two children.”
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