Italian rescuers today frantically hunted for survivors of an earthquake which killed at least 23 people, including 20 children crushed when their school collapsed.

ITALIAN parents screamed frantically last night as they listened to groans from their dying children buried under tons of concrete after an earthquake brought their nursery school crashing down.

Groans from dying Italian children could be heard tonight from beneath tons of concrete after an earthquake brought their nursery school crashing down on top of them.