'I'll remember evil murmur of moving walls': Italy earthquake survivors' tales emerge

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/25/italy-earthquake-amatrice-victims-survivors

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An 18-month-old girl whose mother survived the earthquake that struck L’Aquila in 2009 was among the victims of Wednesday’s tremor in central Italy.

Marisol Piermarini was sleeping in her bed in the family’s holiday home in Arquata del Tronto when the quake struck. The Ansa news agency reported that her mother, Martina Turco, who survived the 2009 quake, which struck just a few miles south of Wednesday’s epicentre, is being treated in hospital after being pulled from the rubble.

Other young victims included a family of four – an eight-month-old boy, his nine-year-old brother, and their parents – in Accumoli. As rescue workers carried away the body of the youngest member of the unnamed family, carefully covered by a small blanket, the children’s grandmother blamed God: “He took them all at once,” she said.

But a Polish priest, who was trapped in his destroyed home for several hours, put his own survival down to a miracle. “Even as I was waiting for help, for someone to bring me out of the apartment, I could feel the tremors. I was afraid they could destroy whatever was left of my house,” the Rev Krzysztof Kozlowski told the Polish broadcaster TVN. “This is a great miracle for me. My neighbours died. I was miraculously saved, rescued by a rescue team. I was born anew.”

Maria Gianni, from Amatrice, told the Associated Press she hid underneath her pillow as the quake struck. “On one side, the whole wall fell but did not hit me,” she said. “On the other side it fell as well and did not hit me, but fell just next to me – very, very close to me, and luckily it didn’t hit me. Then the whole ceiling fell on my head, I just managed to put a pillow on my head and I wasn’t hit, luckily.”

The fact that the quake struck at the height of summer meant many holiday homes and hotels, which would have been vacant out of season, were occupied. Five bodies were pulled from the Hotel Roma in Amatrice and 10 guests were still missing out of a total of 35 who were inside when the quake struck.

There were cheers when a young girl named as Giorgia was rescued after spending 16 hours under rubble in Pescara del Tronto. “I hope that Giorgia remembers little about it,” said Angelo Moroni, the police officer who pulled her out. “In fact I hope I forget everything.” Giorgia’s 10-year-old sister was reported to have died.

Three nuns and four older women are feared dead at a convent in the medieval hilltop town of Amatrice. Sister Mariana, 32, was one of three nuns and a woman who escaped. She said the other survivors escaped holding hands. “They saved each other, they took their hands even while it was falling apart, and they ran, and they survived,” she said.

A number of victims were eastern European migrants working in the area. Romania’s foreign ministry said two Romanians had died, and eight were missing. Citing the Albanian foreign ministry, Balkan Insight said Erjon Toro, 33, was among the victims when his home in Amatrice collapsed. His wife and three children were injured.

A Polish woman who survived the earthquake said she would never forget the moment she and her husband were woken by tremors. “I will remember till the end of my life this noise, the evil murmur of moving walls,” Ewa Szwaja told Polish TVN24. “Our neighbours, my son’s friends and their mum died under the rubble. Their father was doing the night shift and was saved.”