Death toll rises in Italy quake

1 ANSWERS

1. Brett
   

   At least 207 people have been killed by the earthquake in central Italy, with 100 residents critically injured, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said.
   
   He said 150 people had been rescued alive so far, and the operation would continue for a further 48 hours and involve 7,000 rescuers.
   
   About 1,500 people were injured and 17,000 were left homeless following the pre-dawn quake in the Abruzzo region.
   
   Thousands spent the night in emergency accommodation amid continuing tremors.
   
   
   Rescuers remove a body from a university dormitory in L'Aquila
   
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   Mr Berlusconi, appearing at a news conference in L'Aquila, the medieval city worst hit, thanked all involved in the rescue effort.
   
   "There have been serious risks for the lives of those who are carrying out the rescue operation so far, inside buildings that have been damaged and, following another tremor, could easily collapse," he said.
   
   "So therefore this is a very dangerous situation for the rescuers."
   
   He said another 48 hours would be enough to ascertain if anyone else was still alive.
   
   
   Duncan Kennedy
   Latest from Duncan Kennedy in Onna, a village just outside L'Aquila
   
   
   
   The search operation is still going on here. They are not giving up hope of finding people alive. It's a very difficult and dangerous job.
   
   Even this morning, we felt tremors - that crack in the ground that you hear and the slight wobbling of the earth beneath your feet.
   
   What are these people going to do in the days and the weeks and the months to come? They've got nowhere to live.
   
   "We have tried-and-tested mechanisms for the rescue operations that have been used before by the civil protection agency," he said.
   
   Outlining the death toll, Mr Berlusconi said 190 people had died, plus a further 17 who had yet to be identified.
   
   About 15 people had not been found, but it was possible they had left the area without notifying authorities or relatives, he said.
   
   A 23-year-old student was pulled alive with the help of specialist cavers from the rubble of a four-storey building in L'Aquila more than 22 hours after the quake struck
   
   But rescuers were still digging at a university hall of residence where four students were believed to be trapped.
   
   One body was carried out from the collapsed building earlier on Tuesday.
   
   Of the injured, 500 people were treated in hospitals, including 179 at regional hospitals, allowing families to visit them.

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