COPY LINK

ITALY EARTHQUAKE

DEATH

Rescuers search for 15 still missing in Amatrice

A team of specialist rescue workers from Shanghai is searching for 15 people unaccounted for in Amatrice, the Lazio town torn apart by Wednesday's devastating earthquake.

Published: 26 August 2016 16:37 CEST

Rescuers search for 15 still missing in Amatrice

A suitcase in the rubble of a collapsed home in Amatrice. Photo: Angela Giuffrida/The Local

The team, coordinated by Ho Chin, is using equipment capable of scanning depths of 15 metres.

Work got underway on Friday afternoon.

“Fifteen people are still thought to be missing, we will use these scanners to try and find them, ” Chin told The Local

The 15 people are thought to have been visitors to the town, which had been due to host the 50th edition of an annual festival celebrating its centuries-old pasta dish, Amatriciana, this weekend.

“We don't know who they might be, they could have been staying in a holiday home or were guests in someone's home,” a resident, who lost several relatives in the quake, told The Local.

Amatrice was shaken by another powerful aftershock on Friday morning, causing further damage to its centre.

The earthquake has claimed at least 267 lives, the majority in Amatrice, while at least 367 have been hospitalised.

Nobody has been pulled alive from the rubble since Wednesday.

Flags will fly at half-mast across Italy on Saturday, to coincide with the first funerals.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Italy's Renzi wants ex-ECB boss Draghi to become prime minister: report

Matteo Renzi. Image: Andreas Solaro/ POOL / AFP

“I would say that is one of our proposals,” confirmed the source, who declined to be named.

The Italian government collapsed last week when PM Giuseppe Conte resigned. The former coalition allies are currently trying to come to an agreement and sort out their differences.

The centre-left government had been in turmoil ever since former premier Matteo Renzi withdrew his Italia Viva party earlier this month, a move that forced Conte to step down this week.

During the past year, Renzi frequently criticised Conte’s management of the pandemic and economic crisis.

Italy’s La Stampa newspaper also reported on Sunday that President Sergio Mattarella was considering Draghi for the prime ministerial role. However, Mattarella’s office promptly denied this, saying there had been no contact between them.

So far, there has been no comment from Draghi, who hasn't been seen much in the public eye since 2019.

Italy's president, Sergio Mattarella, gave ruling parties more time on Friday to form a new government, after the resignation of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

Coalition parties Italia Viva, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and anti-establishment 5-Star Movement must come to an agreement to allow the government to heal.

Renzi, a former prime minister himself, has pubilcly stated that he does not want to talk about who should lead the next government at this stage, reasoning that the parties need to agree on a way forward first.

“Any effort today to fuel a discussion about Draghi is offensive to Draghi and above all to the president of the republic,” Renzi said in an interview published on Sunday with Corriere della Sera.

A senior Italia Viva lawmaker also told Reuters that “If the president gives a mandate to Draghi, we would certainly support this”.

Renzi, whose party is not even registering three percent support in opinion polls, quit the coalition over Conte’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his plans for spending more than 200 billion euros from a European Union fund to help Italy’s damaged economy.

READ ALSO: Why do Italy's governments collapse so often?

Url copied to clipboard!