Earthquake survivors and
eyewitnesses reported scenes of devastation from the towns worst
affected by Wednesday morning's 6.0 magnitude quake in central
Italy in which at least 21 people are known to have died.
"Voices could be heard from under the rubble shouting:
'help us, help us'," said a young woman who rushed to the Marche
village of Pescara del Tronto to look for her parents.
"My mother and father are injured, but alive," she added
from the accident and emergency department at Ascoli Piceno
hospital, where she was waiting with her parents for them to
receive treatment.
"A few friends helped us to pull them out," she added,
describing the situation in Pescara del Tronto as a "bloody
mess".
"At least three people died, I saw a child being carried by
his uncle who was desperately calling for help. There were lots
of building collapses," the woman said.
The situation was no better in the nearby Lazio town of
Amatrice, where Mayor Sergio Pirozzi reported "dozens" of
victims.
"I am alive by miracle and because I had just woken up to
go to work," said a trash collector who survived after his home
collapsed in Via Costanzo Angelini in the historic centre.
"I had just got up when suddenly everything collapsed. Ten
seconds were enough to destroy everything," he added.
"I can remember the (2009) L'Aquila earthquake, it lasted
longer. Here everything happened in a flash."
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