Italy is preparing to hold the first funerals for victims of the
powerful earthquake that struck the country's central Abruzzo region.
Services will be held outside the badly hit regional capital L'Aquila,
as many of its buildings remain unstable.
The rescue operations in L'Aquila and nearby areas hit by the earthquake are continuing, and they managed to dig out from the rubble, three survivors.
One of them was a 98-year-old woman who was underneath her collapsed house for 30 hours. Another one was a young girl, 20 years old, who was underneath the rubble for 42 hours. And, yet another young lady was also taken out.
The majority of the rescue operations are dead bodies. That is the majority of what is being retrieved from the buildings that have collapsed in L'Aquila and the other 25 towns in this area.
The funerals have now been confirmed and should be held on Friday. Pope Benedict XVI just said that he will be visiting the victims of this earthquake. He will be coming to this area after Easter Sunday.
Meanwhile, 20 tent cities have been set up in this area. Other survivors are being moved out to the coastal resorts not far from L'Aquila, where they are being housed in hotels that are usually used in the summer and are empty in the winter months.
In addition, the relief effort continues in the tent cities for all these people.
They are very distressed because the earth here continues to move. About 430 tremors have been felt since the big earthquake struck early Monday and another very big aftershock was felt yesterday: 5.3 in magnitude. That aftershock sent people fleeing from their tents. It was early evening and people were screaming, terrified that the worst is not over yet.
The rescue operations in L'Aquila and nearby areas hit by the earthquake are continuing, and they managed to dig out from the rubble, three survivors.
One of them was a 98-year-old woman who was underneath her collapsed house for 30 hours. Another one was a young girl, 20 years old, who was underneath the rubble for 42 hours. And, yet another young lady was also taken out.
The majority of the rescue operations are dead bodies. That is the majority of what is being retrieved from the buildings that have collapsed in L'Aquila and the other 25 towns in this area.
The funerals have now been confirmed and should be held on Friday. Pope Benedict XVI just said that he will be visiting the victims of this earthquake. He will be coming to this area after Easter Sunday.
Meanwhile, 20 tent cities have been set up in this area. Other survivors are being moved out to the coastal resorts not far from L'Aquila, where they are being housed in hotels that are usually used in the summer and are empty in the winter months.
In addition, the relief effort continues in the tent cities for all these people.
They are very distressed because the earth here continues to move. About 430 tremors have been felt since the big earthquake struck early Monday and another very big aftershock was felt yesterday: 5.3 in magnitude. That aftershock sent people fleeing from their tents. It was early evening and people were screaming, terrified that the worst is not over yet.
