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Search for Missing in Italy Intensifies After Powerful Earthquake Hopes Dim for Survivors of Italy Quake; Death Toll Stands at 241
(about 2 hours later)
AMATRICE, Italy — The search continued on Thursday for the dead and the missing after a devastating earthquake struck central Italy, deeply convulsing this close-knit country. AMATRICE, Italy — For more than 24 hours, Alessandro Dalvit and his dog Muttley scampered over piles of rubble in three towns, including this one, where more than 180 people perished in a devastating earthquake that struck central Italy on Wednesday.
At last count, the death toll stood at 241: 184 in the town of Amatrice and 11 in Accumoli, both in the Lazio region, and 46 in the village of Arquata del Tronto, in the neighboring Marche region. In a rare bit of good news, the toll was revised downward, from an earlier tally of 247, but the figure could rise again given that some people remained unaccounted for. Muttley found 16 bodies, including those of an 8-month-old boy and his parents.
At a news conference in Rome, Immacolata Postiglione, head of the emergency unit at Italy’s Civil Protection Agency, said that 215 people had been rescued from the wreckage generated by the quake and the violent aftershocks that followed it. At least 264 people had been hospitalized, and many children were among the scores injured, the Health Ministry said. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven — dead, morti,” Mr. Dalvit said, showing a reporter photographs on his smartphone, ending with an image of a row of coffins. “At least you are able to give the bodies back to their families.”
Officials in Romania confirmed that five of the country’s citizens had been killed in the quake, and that four were wounded, and 11 missing. Several thousand migrants from Romania are estimated to live in the area. Mr. Dalvit, a volunteer who was brought in by helicopter as part of a United Nations search-and-rescue team, planned on Thursday to return to his base in Trento, in northern Italy. There were other rescue teams in Amatrice and, he said, the more time passes, “the less hope there is.”
The earthquake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 6.2, struck at 3:36 a.m. Wednesday, all but flattening Amatrice, a quiet mountain town with medieval churches, destroying houses and burying people under the rubble. It also devastated Accumoli. The earthquake was so strong that it was felt in Rome, about 100 miles away. Excavation machines moved rubble onto trucks to clear the streets of this quiet mountain town, which resembled a war zone on Thursday, even as two strong aftershocks — among more than 400 since the 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck at 3:36 a.m. on Wednesday — jolted Amatrice yet again.
Overnight, about 1,200 people slept in four makeshift camps in the area struck by the quake, as residents braved the 460 shocks and aftershocks that have been registered since Wednesday morning. Ms. Postiglione said that two of the shocks had magnitudes larger than 5. The roads leading to Amatrice remained clogged with caravans of fire trucks, diggers, ambulances and sundry rescue vehicles waiting for orders on Thursday. A row of drab gray tents lined a field on the town’s edge, doubling as an ersatz morgue.
The earthquake has helped bring together a country known for its age-old social fabric, where families and neighbors come together during times of crisis. About 5,400 people have mobilized to help with search operations, including professional rescue workers and 3,000 volunteers, some of whom have provided shelter to those pulled out of the rubble. Outside, a small crowd of residents waited for names to be called. “They’re identifying the dead,” one police officer said.
While the relatives of the missing lingered between hope and despair, a spokesman for firefighters, Luca Cari, told the Italian news media that it was still possible to find someone alive, even 72 hours after an earthquake. Some sobbed, while others clutched at one another for support.
Amid the devastation, there were glimmers of heroism and hope. A three-story convent on the edge of Amatrice was all but destroyed, as the two top floors came crashing down during the earthquake. But a nun who escaped said she would have remained trapped under the rubble, along with three other nuns and several retirees, if a young man had not rescued her. She called him “an angel.” Amatrice’s mayor, Sergio Pirozzi, spent part of the morning in the makeshift morgue.
“The identification has to be done right away — it’s hot,” said Giancarlo Carloni, the town’s deputy mayor.
As of midday Thursday, officials in Rome said, the death toll stood at 241: 184 in the town of Amatrice and 11 in Accumoli, both in the Lazio region, and 46 in the village of Arquata del Tronto, in the neighboring Marche region. In a rare bit of good news, the toll was revised downward, from a tally of 247, but the figure could rise again, given that some people remain unaccounted for. In Accumoli, rescue efforts have stopped.
In Amatrice, the number of missing remained unclear on Thursday, as locals wondered aloud about tourists and seasonal workers, mostly from Romania, who come during the busy summer months. Romanian officials confirmed that five of their citizens had died in the quake, that four had been wounded and that 11 others were missing.
Across Amatrice, volunteers collected clothing, blankets, toiletries and food donated by individuals and institutions throughout Italy. “We’ve seen incredible solidarity, closeness, love, help from all of Italy,” with even the country’s struggling municipalities offering funds, said Mr. Carloni, the deputy mayor. “It makes me proud to be an Italian.”
The Civil Protection Department said that of the 3,400 beds that had been made available to those who had lost their homes, only about 1,200 were occupied Wednesday night.
Those who could leave Amatrice, now a ghost town, did so, finding refuge with relatives or at second homes on the seaside, said Mr. Carloni, who spent the night with his wife in their car. His house was standing, he said, but she was afraid to stay in it.
Just outside the town, a camp for 250 homeless survivors was being set up on Thursday by Anpas, one of the dozens of volunteer associations that rushed to the quake area, and tents — each for eight to 12 people — were being prepared for their arrival.
Though temporary in nature, for some, they could become home for months.
“In L’Aquila, people lived in tents from April to December — it was very long and cold,” said Andrea Cardoni, a spokesman for Anpas, referring to a 2009 earthquake in the neighboring Abruzzo region that killed nearly 300 people. He wore a T-shirt for the organization that stated, “The earth can tremble, but not people’s will.”
The Culture Ministry said on Thursday that all income generated from state museums on Sunday would be used to help provide relief in areas battered by the earthquake. The minister of culture and tourism, Dario Franceschini, urged Italians to go to museums to show solidarity with those affected by the quake.The Culture Ministry said on Thursday that all income generated from state museums on Sunday would be used to help provide relief in areas battered by the earthquake. The minister of culture and tourism, Dario Franceschini, urged Italians to go to museums to show solidarity with those affected by the quake.
The earthquake is spurring soul-searching about how to reinforce buildings in mountain towns peppered with centuries-old construction. In Amatrice, psychologists prepared to work the camps, helping victims, especially children, cope with their shock.
The earthquake was less powerful than other recent temblors, such as one in Nepal in April 2015, which killed 8,000 people. But the Italian quake nevertheless wreaked havoc because it was particularly shallow, occurring about six miles below the surface and making the ground-shaking particularly violent. “The first phase is the hardest,” said Mr. Cardoni, explaining that teachers, clowns and pet-therapy experts would be on hand.
As the initial shock wore off, some turned to more prosaic thoughts.
Ernesto Bernardi, who runs a tourist destination, noted, “People are afraid, even if you build with all the anti-seismic architectural regulations.”
“I work with children and teams,” he said. “It’s safe, but I can’t put that in writing.”
The future of tourism in the area, he said, “looks bleak for all.”
Mr. Pirozzi, Amatrice’s mayor, said he hoped that the reconstruction — which Prime Minister Matteo Renzi insisted would take place, and quickly — would follow the example of Friuli, a region in northeastern Italy that was rebuilt after an earthquake in 1976.
Seven years after the 2009 earthquake, downtown L’Aquila is still mostly empty; palazzos have yet to rise from the ashes.
Mr. Pirozzi said he hoped that the nationwide outpouring of support would help reconstruction.
“We become Italians in three cases: for soccer, the Olympics and in emergencies,” Mr. Pirozzi said. “The first step is reconstruction, and to give a positive signal.”
Mr. Carloni, the deputy mayor, said he was an optimist. It would have been much worse, he said, had the earthquake occurred over the weekend, when as many as 40,000 people were expected for a festival celebrating the pasta sauce named after the town.
“It could have been a tragedy of untold dimensions,” he said. “Amatrice is beautiful, and like all things, beauty comes at a price.”
In Rome, Immacolata Postiglione, head of the emergency unit at the Civil Protection Department, said that 215 people had been rescued from the wreckage of the earthquake. At least 264 people had been hospitalized, many children among them, the Health Ministry said.
Amid the devastation, there were glimmers of heroism and hope. A three-story convent on the edge of Amatrice was all but destroyed, as the two top floors came crashing down. But a nun who escaped said she would have remained trapped under the rubble, along with three other nuns and several retirees, if a young man had not rescued her. She called him “an angel.”
A video posted Wednesday evening showed a girl being pulled out of the rubble in Amatrice. Two rescue workers worked to remove debris to set her free. As she was pulled to safety, into the arms of one, onlookers burst into applause.