Italy prepares to mourn earthquake dead

Amatrice (Italy), Aug 26 (AFP) Italy today declared a dayof mourning for victims of a devastating earthquake as hopesof finding any more survivors dwindled and the confirmed deathtoll rose to 267. Flags will fly at half-mast across the country tomorrow tocoincide with funerals for some of the victims. Immacolata Postiglione, head of the Civil Protectionagency’s emergency unit, said no new survivors had been foundovernight in the remote mountain villages blitzed byWednesday’s powerful pre-dawn quake. At least 387 people have been hospitalised with injuriesbut no one has been pulled alive from the piles of collapsedmasonry since Wednesday evening. "We will go on searching and digging until we are certainthere is noone left," said Luigi D’Angelo, a local CivilProtection official. Valerio Checchi, an officer with a forestry police unit,said he expected rescuers to shortly start using bulldozers toclear the debris in a sign virtually all hope of survivors hasgone. "We will still use thermal devices that can detect thepresence of human bodies." The mayor of Amatrice said his best guess was that therecould be around 15 more people still buried under the ruins ofhis devastated little town. As powerful aftershocks closed winding mountain roads andmade life dangerous for more than 4,000 professionals andvolunteers engaged in the rescue effort, survivors voiceddazed bewilderment over the scale of the disaster that hasstruck their sleepy communities. "I have been through earthquakes before, but this was nota quake, it was an apocalypse," said Anacleto Perotti, 66. Theresident of the tiny hamlet of St Lorenzo Flaviano has goneback to his house, which survived the quake. But he is sleeping in an armchair. "It is too scary inbed. After a quake comes fear, depression takes you over fromthe inside." Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has declared a state ofemergency for the regions affected by Wednesday’s quake, whichoccurred in an area that straddles Umbria, Lazio and Marche. Renzi also released an initial tranche of 50 million euros(USD 56 million) in emergency aid. The first funerals will be held in the city of Ascoli-Piceno for some of the victims who died in the villages ofArquata del Tronto and Pescara del Tronto in the mountains ofthe Marche region. President Sergio Mattarella will attend. A total of 46 people died in the two villages. Theyoungest was between three and four, the oldest in hernineties. (AFP)CPS