50 killed as earthquake hits Italy

Apr 6 2009

A powerful earthquake has struck central Italy, killing at least 50 people, collapsing buildings and leaving thousands of people homeless.

Italy's interior minister Roberto Maroni announced the rising death toll when he arrived in the city.

Firefighters aided by dogs are trying to rescue people from crumbled homes, including a student dormitory in the city of L'Aquila where half a dozen students remained trapped.

The US Geological Survey said the magnitude of the quake was 6.3, though Italy's National Institute of Geophysics put it at 5.8.

The quake struck about 70 miles north-east of Rome at 3.32am local time (2.32 BST), officials said. The Civil Protection Department said the epicentre was near L'Aquila, in the mountainous Abruzzo region.

In addition to L'Aquila, the town of Castelnuovo appeared hard hit, with five of the dead there.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi declared a state of emergency, freeing up federal funds to deal with the disaster. He has cancelled a planned visit to Russia to deal with the crisis.

Agostino Miozzo, an official with the Civil Protection Department, said between 10,000 and 15,000 buildings were damaged.

Four children died in L'Aquila after their houses collapsed, the ANSA news agency said. They quoted doctors at the main San Salvatore dell'Aquila hospital as saying there was nothing they could do for them.

ANSA said the dome of a church in L'Aquila collapsed, while the city's cathedral also suffered damages. L'Aquila Mayor Massimo Cialente said some 100,000 people had left their homes and that many buildings in the city's historic centre were damaged.