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| After Earthquake in Italy, ‘Half the Town No Longer Exists’ | After Earthquake in Italy, ‘Half the Town No Longer Exists’ |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| AMATRICE, Italy — A soft white dust continued to fall lightly, hours after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake shook this small mountain town, as stunned residents — some with tear-streaked cheeks, others still wearing pajamas — wandered through the streets on Wednesday. | AMATRICE, Italy — A soft white dust continued to fall lightly, hours after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake shook this small mountain town, as stunned residents — some with tear-streaked cheeks, others still wearing pajamas — wandered through the streets on Wednesday. |
| Still shocked, many seemed unsure what to do. A father, holding a small child, pushed a wobbly stroller piled with plastic bags of clothing over a rocky path. A young girl sobbed into her mobile phone. | Still shocked, many seemed unsure what to do. A father, holding a small child, pushed a wobbly stroller piled with plastic bags of clothing over a rocky path. A young girl sobbed into her mobile phone. |
| “It’s all gone, the bar, the house, everything,” she said. | “It’s all gone, the bar, the house, everything,” she said. |
| Ambulances raced back and forth on windy roads clogged with traffic and rubble as rescue teams searched for survivors. Using picks, shovels and even their hands, they scrabbled through the dust and debris of crumbled homes. They brought in dogs to sniff for the dead and injured beneath mounds of collapsed concrete and stone. | Ambulances raced back and forth on windy roads clogged with traffic and rubble as rescue teams searched for survivors. Using picks, shovels and even their hands, they scrabbled through the dust and debris of crumbled homes. They brought in dogs to sniff for the dead and injured beneath mounds of collapsed concrete and stone. |
| Anxious friends and relatives waited for news of neighbors and loved ones. The current death toll of at least 159 could rise, with scores of people still missing in the small hilltop towns and villages like this one, among the most badly hit, about 100 miles northeast of Rome. | |
| Among those waiting was Laura Besanzoni, who stood behind a ribbon that cordoned off the main street, the Corso Umberto. A few palazzos still stood along the street, but piles of rubble lined both sides, offering glimpses of bright blue sky. | Among those waiting was Laura Besanzoni, who stood behind a ribbon that cordoned off the main street, the Corso Umberto. A few palazzos still stood along the street, but piles of rubble lined both sides, offering glimpses of bright blue sky. |
| “It’s like being in one of those countries at war,” she said sadly, looking at the devastation around her. Her family’s palazzo was standing, she said, but she had no news of an aunt and two cousins. | “It’s like being in one of those countries at war,” she said sadly, looking at the devastation around her. Her family’s palazzo was standing, she said, but she had no news of an aunt and two cousins. |
| “We don’t know if they are dead or alive,” she said. Attempts to call them in the early morning hours, after a strong quake struck a wide portion of central Italy, had so far been unsuccessful. “And yet our home is one of the few to have stayed up.” | “We don’t know if they are dead or alive,” she said. Attempts to call them in the early morning hours, after a strong quake struck a wide portion of central Italy, had so far been unsuccessful. “And yet our home is one of the few to have stayed up.” |
| Soon after the quake, Mayor Sergio Pirozzi of Amatrice told reporters that “half the town no longer exists.” He may have been too optimistic. Amatrice appeared the ghost of a town by midday. | Soon after the quake, Mayor Sergio Pirozzi of Amatrice told reporters that “half the town no longer exists.” He may have been too optimistic. Amatrice appeared the ghost of a town by midday. |
| Makeshift human corridors were created to bring people out. Some were alive, others were not. As one lifeless body passed, mostly wrapped in a plastic cover, one woman wailed: “That looks like Manuela’s hand.” | Makeshift human corridors were created to bring people out. Some were alive, others were not. As one lifeless body passed, mostly wrapped in a plastic cover, one woman wailed: “That looks like Manuela’s hand.” |
| A three-story convent on the edge of town was virtually destroyed by the quake, the top two floors crushing the bottom. A young nun managed to get out of the convent, but she said she thought three nuns and four retirees had been buried in the quake. All that remained of one house just off a small square was the facade; the rooms behind had been squashed. | A three-story convent on the edge of town was virtually destroyed by the quake, the top two floors crushing the bottom. A young nun managed to get out of the convent, but she said she thought three nuns and four retirees had been buried in the quake. All that remained of one house just off a small square was the facade; the rooms behind had been squashed. |
| “We’re all doing what we can,” said Don Fabio Gammarrota, a parish priest from nearby Cittareale who arrived in Amatrice to assist with the rescue efforts soon after the quake. He said many people were looking for comfort. “There are mothers and fathers who have lost children,” he said. | “We’re all doing what we can,” said Don Fabio Gammarrota, a parish priest from nearby Cittareale who arrived in Amatrice to assist with the rescue efforts soon after the quake. He said many people were looking for comfort. “There are mothers and fathers who have lost children,” he said. |
| He said he had seen at least 10 bodies extracted from the rubble. He was concerned that there were many more to come. | He said he had seen at least 10 bodies extracted from the rubble. He was concerned that there were many more to come. |
| Several people said the town had been full of tourists who had come for the weekend’s annual Sagra dell’Amatriciana festival that celebrates the pasta sauce for which the town is known. | Several people said the town had been full of tourists who had come for the weekend’s annual Sagra dell’Amatriciana festival that celebrates the pasta sauce for which the town is known. |
| “It was the 50th this year; it was going to be a special weekend,” said Ilde, a high school teacher from Rome who vacations here every August. She declined to give her last name. | “It was the 50th this year; it was going to be a special weekend,” said Ilde, a high school teacher from Rome who vacations here every August. She declined to give her last name. |
| Ilde’s home on the central Corso Umberto was “severely damaged but not devastated,” she said. But when she was awaked by a loud bang at 3:36 a.m. and looked out the window, she saw nothing but rubble, she said. | Ilde’s home on the central Corso Umberto was “severely damaged but not devastated,” she said. But when she was awaked by a loud bang at 3:36 a.m. and looked out the window, she saw nothing but rubble, she said. |
| The buildings across the street from her and next door were destroyed. “Only the town tower was standing,” she said, describing scenes of panic, her neighbors screaming for help in the dark. | The buildings across the street from her and next door were destroyed. “Only the town tower was standing,” she said, describing scenes of panic, her neighbors screaming for help in the dark. |
| “It was Dante’s ‘Inferno,’ it was apocalyptic, I don’t know,” she said. | “It was Dante’s ‘Inferno,’ it was apocalyptic, I don’t know,” she said. |
| When rescuers came to escort her from her home, she said, she walked on rubble at least 10 to 13 feet high. “It felt like a mountain,” she said. | When rescuers came to escort her from her home, she said, she walked on rubble at least 10 to 13 feet high. “It felt like a mountain,” she said. |
| Large cracks and fallen plaster pockmarked Amatrice’s hospital, which was evacuated early on Wednesday. Patients in critical condition were taken to neighboring hospitals, while doctors tended to those with minor wounds in the parking lot outside. | Large cracks and fallen plaster pockmarked Amatrice’s hospital, which was evacuated early on Wednesday. Patients in critical condition were taken to neighboring hospitals, while doctors tended to those with minor wounds in the parking lot outside. |
| Amatrice’s residents — those who had not already left — gathered on grassy lawns or in courtyards. Passers-by inquired of loved ones. “Is Francesca all right?” “Is your mom?” | Amatrice’s residents — those who had not already left — gathered on grassy lawns or in courtyards. Passers-by inquired of loved ones. “Is Francesca all right?” “Is your mom?” |
| In one square, family of locals waited for news while diggers began tackling a pile of bricks and stones that had once been a home. One man had lost his father. Another an uncle. | In one square, family of locals waited for news while diggers began tackling a pile of bricks and stones that had once been a home. One man had lost his father. Another an uncle. |
| “I can’t think of how many may still be in the rubble,” said one woman whose house resisted the quake while the neighboring ones did not. Amatrice is in an area prone to earthquakes, “but we’ve never felt anything as violent as this,” she added. | “I can’t think of how many may still be in the rubble,” said one woman whose house resisted the quake while the neighboring ones did not. Amatrice is in an area prone to earthquakes, “but we’ve never felt anything as violent as this,” she added. |
| Like many of the residents struggling to understand the calamity she had just experienced, she declined to give her name. “Just make something up,” she said. | Like many of the residents struggling to understand the calamity she had just experienced, she declined to give her name. “Just make something up,” she said. |