A day of national mourning in Italy – Fading hopes for survivors

The hope of finding survivors was dwindling, today, without, however, this is to discourage the thousands of rescue workers who are still…
to investigate the ruins of the villages of central Italy hit Wednesday by an earthquake that claimed the lives of at least 267 people.
Saturday was declared a day of national mourning on the occasion of the funeral of about fifty victims of the Αρκουάτα del Τρόντο, one of the three villages of the Apennines, were the worst affected. The funerals are going to τελεσθούν in the morning in Ascoli Piceno, in the foothills of the mountains hit by the earthquake, the presence of the president of the Republic Sergio Ματαρέλα and the prime minister both Involved.
The gestures of solidarity are multiplying, with donations of blood or money, gathering clothes, food and toys, as well as culinary initiatives, such as the meals that they offer Italian chef to σεισμοπλήκτους or the initiative “eat Italy” launched by the british chef Jamie Oliver.
The graphic designer Paulo Bell from Rome appealed to restaurateurs, to which he responded 700 from all over Italy and abroad, to add to their menu a dish of “pasta al’ amatriciana”, a recipe from the σεισμόπληκτο Αματρίτσε, and to deposit a couple of euros from the price of the Italian Red Cross.
Throughout the night, the earth continued to vibrate and dozens of aftershocks were recorded, among which a vibration of a magnitude of 4.8 degrees which cut off the access route to the Αματρίτσε.
According to a latest toll of the civil protection service, the number of deaths that have been established a little more than 48 hours after the deadly earthquake now stands at € 267, while 387 wounded needed treatment.
A total of 238 people came out alive from the rubble after the earthquake which occurred at 03:38 on Wednesday, however recently there has been no rescue.
In the cold of the night with the light of the projector or in the searing heat of the day, the efforts continue unabated.
In 2009, during the earthquake in L’aquila, not far from the zone of the earthquake of Wednesday, the last survivor was rescued 72 hours after a disaster.
The authorities find it difficult to calculate the number of missing persons: it is difficult to know how many people were there the moment the earthquake struck, as the population of these tourist villages triples or quadruples in the summer.
At least eight foreigners are among the 267 men who died have been recorded, in accordance with the Type or the authorities of the countries concerned: three British, two Romanian, a Spaniard, a Canadian and a Salvadoran.
Last night, the government declared the affected areas in a state of emergency and released a first amount of 50 million. euro. It was also announced a new design of seismic protection, after the questions about the heavy toll of the earthquake in a zone that had clearly been declared dangerous.
In L’aquila, the earthquake of 2009 which had claimed the lives of more than 300 people. But it was a city of many tens of thousands of residents.
The Italians have been shocked especially from the case of the school of Αματρίτσε, which partially destroyed while it was adapted in 2012 to the anti-seismic regulation.
The picture brought the memory of San Giuliano in Puglia (south Italy), where 27 children and their teacher had lost their lives in an earthquake that had occurred in the late morning in October 2002.
The justice commenced an investigation for possible abuse of the Αματρίτσε and in the other affected villages.
The prime minister, both Involved announced last night a plan that is intended to focus government action on the prevention of disasters caused by earthquakes and not in the management of emergency situations.
But the unique historical heritage of Italy makes it difficult to target: we can’t “shave” all the historical centers of the peninsula, said the Way.
The earthquake of Wednesday caused damage or destroyed 293 buildings that have cultural value, in accordance with the minister of Culture Dario Φρανσεσκίνι.