Italy earthquake claims 247 lives as rescuers look for survivors in the rubble

FP Staff • August 25, 2016, 12:39:16 IST

Rescuers stand by a collapsed house following an earthquake in Amatrice, central Italy on Wednesday, 24 August, 2016. A strong earthquake in central Italy reduced three towns to rubble as people slept early Wednesday.

This aerial photo shows the damaged buildings in the historical part of the town of Amatrice, central Italy, after the earthquake. The magnitude 6 quake struck at 3:36 am and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, including Rome where residents of the capital felt a long swaying followed by aftershocks. AP

Firefighters search amid rubble for survivors as the death toll rises to 247 following the earthquake in Accumoli. AP

Scores of buildings were reduced to dusty piles of masonry in communities close to the epicentre of the quake, which had a magnitude of between 6.0 and 6.2. AP

Rescuers had pledged to work through the night in the hope of finding people alive in the mangled wreckage of homes. Hundreds of people spent a chilly night in hastily assembled tents with the risk of aftershocks making it too risky for them to return home. AP

It was Italy’s most powerful earthquake since the 2009 disaster in L’Aquila. Most of the deaths occurred in and around the villages of Amatrice, Accumoli and Arquata del Tronto. AP