UPDATE: AT LEAST 120 DEAD after massive earthquake struck Italy last night

by The Right Scoop

 
⭐️⭐️⭐️BIG UPDATE: At least 120 now dead after Italy’s massive earthquake last night:

CNN – In the Italian village of Saletta, a tiny settlement of about 20 people, residents used their bare hands to ferret through the rubble of a two-story home in a desperate search for neighbors.

They called out names as they dug through the remains of a bedroom. Rescue dogs sniffed and clawed through the debris, with no signs of life.
The scene played out over and over after a strong, shallow earthquake devastated towns in central Italy early Wednesday, killing at least 120 people and placing rescuers in a desperate race against time to try to pull survivors from the rubble.

Italy’s Civil Protection agency said of the people killed in the 6.2 magnitude quake, at least 53 of them were in the town of Amatrice, and at least 100 people were injured. Other fatalities were reported in the nearby towns of Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said “there are at least 120 lives cut short at this time,” following the earthquake, according to national news agency ANSA.

—EARLIER—

The earthquake in Italy last night was much worse than we initially thought. Now at least 63 are dead and 150 missing as rescue crews and normal people continue to dig into the rubble:

DAILY MAIL – The scale of the devastating Italian earthquake was laid bare this morning as shocking pictures and terrifying eyewitness accounts revealed how four towns were almost wiped off the map in just a matter of seconds.

At least 63 people were killed, including two babies, and 150 people are missing, believed to be trapped under rubble after the 6.2-magnitude quake struck at 3.30am local time while villagers slept in their beds.

Today rescuers spoke of hearing children’s screams from the rubble and locals were spotted frantically digging with their bare hands to try and save loved ones.

The quake which devastated the Umbrian mountainside towns and villages of Amatrice, Accumoli, Arquata del Tronto and Pescara del Tronto was so powerful that it even rocked buildings in the centre of Rome more than 100 miles away and was felt as far away as Croatia.

Survivors today described ‘apocalyptic’ scenes in towns and villages near the city of Perugia – the capital of the tourist-packed Umbrian region, which is especially popular with British holidaymakers.

The quake’s epicentre was near Norcia in Umbria, about 105 miles north east of Rome, and falling bridges and landslides meant some areas are still cut off with emergency teams only able to get there on foot.

The mayor of Accumoli, Stefano Petrucci, said this morning: ‘My town isn’t here anymore’ as people were carried out of ruined buildings on stretchers and people desperately searched the debris for survivors or sobbed as they inspected their own ruined homes.

Here’s a heartwarming video of a dog getting rescued as well:


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