Italy earthquake: Death toll rises to at least 159: VIDEO

Italy earthquake: Death toll rises to at least 159

VIDEO

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37171953

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At least 159 people have been killed and 368 injured in an earthquake that hit a mountainous area of central Italy, civil protection officials say.

The magnitude-6.2 quake struck at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome, not far from Perugia.

At least 86 of the dead were in the historic town of Amatrice, where the mayor said three-quarters of the town was destroyed, and in nearby Accumoli.

Many people are still believed to be buried under rubble.

Rescue teams are using heavy lifting equipment and their bare hands and authorities said the search for survivors would continue through the night.

There were cheers in the village of Pescara del Tronto when an eight-year-old girl was pulled alive from the rubble after being trapped for 17 hours.

Earlier, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi warned the toll could rise as he visited the area.

He had previously paid tribute to the volunteers and civil defence officials who rushed to the scene in the middle of the night and used their bare hands to dig for survivors.

He promised "no family, no city, no hamlet will be left behind".

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The tremor was felt across Italy, from Bologna in the north to Naples in the south. There have been dozens of aftershocks.

Hardest hit were the small towns and villages in the mountainous area where the regions of Umbria, Lazio and Le Marche meet.

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