Death toll in deadly Italy quake rises to 38
Rescuers carry a man on a stretcher among damaged buildings after a strong earthquake hit Amatrice in central Italy on August 24, 2016. AFP PHOTO
What you need to know:
- She had earlier announced a toll of 37 but subsequently corrected her statement.
- The tremors were sufficiently strong to wake residents of central Rome, some 150 km away.
A powerful earthquake that rocked central Italy on Wednesday left 38 people dead and the total is likely to rise, the country's civil protection unit said in the first official death toll.
"There are still so many people under masonry, so many missing," said Immacolata Postiglione, the head of the unit's emergency department.
She had earlier announced a toll of 37 but subsequently corrected her statement.
Central Italy was struck by a powerful, 6.2-magnitude earthquake in the early hours of Wednesday, devastating dozens of mountain villages.
Numerous buildings had collapsed in communities close to the epicentre of the quake near the town of Norcia in the region of Umbria, witnesses told Italian media, with an increase in the death toll highly likely.
The tremors were sufficiently strong to wake residents of central Rome, some 150 km away.
