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Girl rescued from the place 241 people died
Italy earthquake: Rescuers' desperate search for survivors as toll hits 250
Story highlights
- Strong aftershock hits Amatrice
- Rescue workers are racing to find survivors amid the rubble
Are you in Italy? Are you affected by the earthquake? If it's safe for you to do so, WhatsApp us on +44 7435 939 154 to share your photos, experiences and video. Please tag #CNNiReport in your message.
Amatrice, Italy (CNN)A
strong aftershock jolted the Italian town of Amatrice Thursday, making
an already arduous rescue operation even more difficult, as the clock
ticks down to find survivors of the earthquake that authorities say has
left at least 250 people dead.
Surveying Italy's earthquake damage 01:26
A
CNN crew in Amatrice was filming in front of a house when the structure
partially collapsed, and others around it were completely flattened.
"People
were just running onto the roads away from buildings in a panic. We saw
our cameras shaking, and journalists here too were panicking," said CNN
producer Margot Haddad.
It's bad
news for rescuers, who have been desperately combing through mountains
of rubble for a second day, hoping to find more survivors.
Wednesday's
6.2-magnitude quake in central Italy reduced entire villages to debris
and blocked off narrow streets in ancient towns, making the rescue
operation extremely difficult.
Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
An emergency hospital camp is set up to treat earthquake victims in Arquata del Tronto.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A woman tries to comfort her child in Amatrice on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Residents survey a collapsed staircase in Amatrice on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Residents of Pescara del Tronto care for an elderly earthquake victim on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Search-and-rescue teams look for survivors in Pescara del Tronto.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Survivors sit among the rubble of a house in Amatrice on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Residents search for victims in Amatrice.
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An injured man is rescued from a collapsed building in Amatrice on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A man leans on a wall in Pescara del Tronto.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A dog searches for people trapped in collapsed buildings in Amatrice.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Rescuers search for victims in Amatrice on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A man is pulled alive from the rubble.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A man surveys damage near a dust-covered car in Amatrice on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Two people huddle together in Amatrice after the earthquake.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A rescue worker drives a truck of rubble as cleanup operations begin in Amatrice.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Rescuers
make their way through destroyed houses in Pescara del Tronto, Italy,
on Thursday, August 25, after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the
central part of the country. Hundreds of people have been killed, and
the death toll is expected to rise as rescue teams reach remote areas.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A bird's eye view of Amatrice, Italy, on Wednesday, August 24, after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Rescuers help a woman from the rubble in Amatrice, Italy, on Wednesday, August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Search-and-rescue teams survey collapsed houses in Pescara del Tronto, Italy, on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A man cries as another injured man is helped in Amatrice.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
This woman in Amatrice was wounded during the earthquake.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Rescuers carry a man through earthquake debris in Amatrice.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Rocco Girardi receives treatment after being rescued from the rubble in Arquata del Tronto, Italy, on August 24.
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The body of a unidentified child lies on a bench in Arquata del Tronto on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
The quake left this house in ruins in Arquata del Tronto.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Two people hug each other next to damaged houses in Pescara del Tronto.
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Two women pass along a stuffed toy in Amatrice on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Residents take in the damage in Amatrice.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
This
aerial photo shows damaged buildings in Amatrice. The quake struck at
3:36 a.m and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
An emergency hospital camp is set up to treat earthquake victims in Arquata del Tronto.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A woman tries to comfort her child in Amatrice on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Residents survey a collapsed staircase in Amatrice on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Residents of Pescara del Tronto care for an elderly earthquake victim on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Search-and-rescue teams look for survivors in Pescara del Tronto.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Survivors sit among the rubble of a house in Amatrice on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Residents search for victims in Amatrice.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
An injured man is rescued from a collapsed building in Amatrice on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A man leans on a wall in Pescara del Tronto.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A dog searches for people trapped in collapsed buildings in Amatrice.
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Rescuers search for victims in Amatrice on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A man is pulled alive from the rubble.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A man surveys damage near a dust-covered car in Amatrice on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Two people huddle together in Amatrice after the earthquake.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A rescue worker drives a truck of rubble as cleanup operations begin in Amatrice.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Rescuers
make their way through destroyed houses in Pescara del Tronto, Italy,
on Thursday, August 25, after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the
central part of the country. Hundreds of people have been killed, and
the death toll is expected to rise as rescue teams reach remote areas.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A bird's eye view of Amatrice, Italy, on Wednesday, August 24, after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Rescuers help a woman from the rubble in Amatrice, Italy, on Wednesday, August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Search-and-rescue teams survey collapsed houses in Pescara del Tronto, Italy, on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
A man cries as another injured man is helped in Amatrice.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
This woman in Amatrice was wounded during the earthquake.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Rescuers carry a man through earthquake debris in Amatrice.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Rocco Girardi receives treatment after being rescued from the rubble in Arquata del Tronto, Italy, on August 24.
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
The body of a unidentified child lies on a bench in Arquata del Tronto on August 24.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
The quake left this house in ruins in Arquata del Tronto.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Two people hug each other next to damaged houses in Pescara del Tronto.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Two women pass along a stuffed toy in Amatrice on August 24.
Hide Caption
12 of 29
Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
Residents take in the damage in Amatrice.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
This
aerial photo shows damaged buildings in Amatrice. The quake struck at
3:36 a.m and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy
An emergency hospital camp is set up to treat earthquake victims in Arquata del Tronto.
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With
heavy lifting equipment just starting to reach isolated villages and
towns that were cut off by landslides and building debris, people used
tractors, farm equipment and simple hand tools to break through what was
left of old stone villas.
"Many
cases have shown in the past that even after two days, people can be
rescued alive," said Luigi D'Angelo from Italy's Civil Protection
Department. "So we want to continue."
CNN
correspondent Frederik Pleitgen saw machinery moving in through the
narrow lanes in Amatrice and rescuers using sniffer dogs to help find
more bodies.
But crews were also using sound detectors, hoping to find more survivors.
"They
know right now it's a race against time. They believe it's about 72
hours those people would be able to survive," Pletigen said.
"In
most cases, unfortunately, the only thing they're able to retrieve is
their bodies and that's one of the reasons why we've seen the death toll
rise so much overnight."
The rescuers, including foreign search crews, are also working through aftershocks -- even one as powerful as magnitude 5.5.
Little girl rescued
After
mostly pulling bodies from the rubble, rescue crews in Pescara del
Tronto were overjoyed Wednesday evening to hear what sounded like the
cries of a survivor.
"Quiet! Quiet" they said, getting closer to the source of sound.
A 10-year-old girl is rescued from the debris of a collapsed building in Pescara del Tronto.
The
scene was captured on video by CNN affiliate Sky TG24, which reported
that a girl had been trapped beneath the ruins for 17 hours.
A firefighter clawed at the debris, trying to get to her.
"Come on... Come on. Slowly, slowly. Mind her head," they said to one another as onlookers applauded in support.
Suddenly there was a foot, a leg, and then the other leg.
The young girl, later identified as 10-year-old Giorgia, was finally pulled out with great care to a rousing cheer.
"She's alive!" a witness joyously cries.
No happy stories here
But
Giorgia's survival is sadly an anomaly so far in the massive rescue
operation, which involves more than 5,400 rescuers from Italy's Civil
Protection agency, and many more from outside groups.
In Saletta, a town of just 20 homes less than a mile from the quake's epicenter, an eerie quiet has taken over.
"We saw unfortunately only bodies pulled out," CNN contributor Barbie Nadeau said from the village, where 22 people were killed.
"We didn't see any happy stories here," she added.
Nadeau
and her crew narrowly escaped injury when a home collapsed behind her
in Saletta as she did a Facebook Live session Wednesday.
Building collapses live in Italy 00:54
More
than 1,000 people have been displaced by the quake, and Italy's Civil
Protection agency said no residents were allowed to sleep in the
devastated town of Amatrice on Wednesday night.
Some 264 of the wounded have been hospitalized.
Banding together
Home rental website AirBnB has offered a free service for those affected, displaying two options: "I need a place to stay" or "I can offer my place for free."
Some people on Facebook were independently offering up their homes for free, while an Italian report said that 75 refugees living in in Calabria had made a donation to the relief effort.
The
death toll was expected to rise as rescue teams worked through the
rubble, with regular aftershocks posing a continuing threat.
Most
survived the quake in the village of Sant'Angelo, which is home to just
300 people in the summer and fewer than 100 in the winter. But one
mother and her child didn't make it, killed when the tremor hit as they
slept.
On the balconies, bedsheets
tied together in thick knots hang down -- they were used as escape
routes after homes partly crumbled.
A
group of teenagers here were listening to music in a field when the
ground beneath them began to shake. Among them was Matteo Spuri, 19,
who normally lives in Rome but was visiting with friends for a summer
holiday.
"We looked back at the village and saw a cloud of dust, and we realized the village was destroyed," Spuri said.
The group set up a first-aid area in the field, and gave blankets to the elderly.
Valentina Gianni, a 16-year-old among them, said the teenagers had worked all through the night.
"We
didn't know how long it was until ... we suddenly realized it was 7
a.m. We have been out helping people throughout the night and we're so
tired," she said.
"What would
really help is if all the damages here were recognized [by insurance
companies]. To have [it] recognized 100% so that people can begin to
rebuild."
The
teens who set up a first-aid area in a field outside Sant'Angelo, from
left to right: Valentina Gianni, Gabriele Paoletti, Matteo Spuri and
Frederico Feliziani
Amatrice 'is no more,' says mayor
Italy is no stranger to deadly quakes.
In May 2012, a pair of earthquakes killed
dozens of people in northern Italy, while in April 2009, a
magnitude-6.3 earthquake hit the Aquila region of central Italy, killing
295. The earthquake Wednesday struck an area close to the 2009
disaster.
The towns at the
epicenter of the quake -- Amatrice, Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto --
are scenes of devastation, with what were once charming three-story
buildings pancaked by the disaster.
Collapsed and damaged houses in Pescara del Tronto.
The Civil Protection agency said of the people killed, at
least 195 were in the Rieti region -- 184 in the village of Amatrice
and 11 in the nearby village of Accumoli. In Arquata del Tronto, which
includes Pescara del Tronto, at least 46 were killed.
"The town is no more," Amatrice Mayor Sergio Pirozzi told Rai.
The
towns, situated amid remote, mountainous terrain, are particularly
popular in the summer with tourists seeking a scenic getaway from the
heat of the city.
Amatrice, known for its traditional all'amatriciana pasta sauce, had been gearing up to hold a festival celebrating the pork jowl, chili and pecorino recipe this weekend, with many visitors expected.
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