Italy: At least four children killed in quake

At least four children were reported to have been killed in southern Italy today when an earthquake brought their nursery school roof down on top of them.

About 100 people, most of them children aged between three and six years, were trapped under the rubble after the 5.4 magnitude quake hit the town of San Giuliano di Puglia.

Rescuers digging among the rubble described the scene as “highly critical”.

The school was near the quake’s epicentre.

Firefighters said up to 100 people were trapped under the collapsed nursery school roof.

Nine children and one teacher were pulled out alive and taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, said firefighters in Rome, who were co-ordinating the rescue effort.

“It was a tremendous explosion,” said Giuseppe Moffa, an official at the regional president’s office in Campobasso.

Hospitals as far away as Foggia, 45 miles to the east, were offering blood to the Campobasso region, but were stymied because of the downed phone lines, officials said.

The earthquake hit large areas of central and southern Italy, damaging buildings and causing panic and residents fled into the streets.

The quake was felt in a number of regions, including Campania, Apulia, Abruzzo and parts of Rome and was followed by a number of aftershocks.

The quake had its epicentre in Campobasso, a town 50 miles north-east of Naples.

Firefighters said a car full of passengers was hit by a collapsing building.

Schools were evacuated in at least three towns in the Abruzzo region, the ANSA news agency said.

Witnesses in several towns said the main quake was accompanied by a loud bang.

There were scenes of panic in Basilicata and Irpinia, where a devastating earthquake in 1980 killed more than 2,500 people.

Across the region, cracks gaped in building walls, and chunks of plaster fell from ceilings.

The quake was followed by at least two aftershocks, one with a 2.9 magnitude and another with a 3.7 magnitude – all with their epicentre around Campobasso, said Marco Ludovici, an official with the Civil Defence department in Rome.

Another quake, measuring 3.7, today hit Mount Etna, the Sicilian volcano which began erupting on Sunday. No damage was reported.

The National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology in Rome said the quake hitting the mainland and the one shaking Etna did not appear to be connected.