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SAN GIULIANO DI PUGLIA, Italy (AP) - The earthquake (news - web sites) that struck this Italian mountain village and toppled a school killed nearly all the students in a first grade class, officials said. Hopes that more survivors might be found in the rubble faded Friday as the total death toll climbed to 28.
AP Photo
Slideshow: Earthquake Shakes Sicily
Italy Earthquake Kills 28 People
(AP Video)
Emergency crews grimly sifted through the debris of Thursday's quake, using cranes, sledgehammers, blowtorches and their bare hands. As they worked, the south-central Molise region was jolted by several aftershocks, including two back-to-back temblors that sent up clouds of dust and panicked residents into the streets.
A 9-year-old boy named Angelo, rescued just before dawn, was the last survivor, police said. Rescuers pulled four more bodies out later Friday, including two they mistakenly believed were alive.
In all, 26 bodies were pulled from the wrecked school — 24 children and two teachers. The quake also killed two women in nearby homes, officials said. At least one more body was believed to be inside the school.
A rescue worker, in hard hat and covered with dust, said most of the students were crushed at their desks as the roof crashed down upon them.
"A huge tragedy leaves us with only one certainty. It looks like the first grade class was wiped out," said a local priest, the Rev. Ferdinando Manna.
The magnitude 5.4 quake struck the Campobasso area, 50 miles northeast of Naples, at 11:33 a.m. Thursday. San Giuliano di Puglia, a village of 1,195 people, was hardest hit.
There were 56 students, four teachers and two janitors in the yellow school at the time; some of the students were gathered in the garden to celebrate Halloween, an increasingly popular holiday in Italy.
"I was told I had lost all of my nine first grade pupils," said teacher Clementina Simone, who was pulled from the rubble. "I wanted to go back and help, but the rescuers wouldn't let me."
When the town ran out of child-sized caskets, the small bodies were placed into adult-sized mahogany coffins. A sports complex became a makeshift morgue.
At dawn, emergency crews halted work to listen for sounds from the rubble, but heard nothing. In the hours after the collapse, faint voices had been heard, and rescuers worked furiously to reach the victims. The last survivor, the 9-year-old named Angelo, was pulled out at 3:54 a.m.
Simone recalled the terrifying fight for survival.
"I was holding the hand of a little boy who was saved with me," she said. "A large piece of concrete was hanging over my head and rescuers used an inflatable bag to move it."
One girl named Lilia told Italian television from her hospital bed, where she had her left hand in a small cast, that the children were drawing Pinocchio pictures, getting ready for their Halloween party, when the quake struck.
"I heard it crumble, and we screamed," she said. She said she hadn't heard news her friend Melissa. "She wasn't near me. I didn't even hear her voice. I don't know if she's still alive."
Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II, appearing at his window overlooking St. Peter's Square, offered prayers for the victims and encouragement to survivors and the rescue crews.
Rescue teams from nearby regions poured into the tiny village, and Premier Silvio Berlusconi arrived late Thursday. He said all measures would be taken to help residents.
The government's forestry department conducted an aerial survey of the area hardest hit and determined that about 70 percent of the homes were damaged, suffering either collapsed roofs or cracked walls. About 3,000 people were left homeless, the ANSA news agency said.
On Thursday, a 3.7 magnitude quake hit Mount Etna, the volcano in eastern Sicily which began erupting Sunday. Another quake, of the same magnitude, rattled western Sicily, off the coast of Palermo, Friday morning.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology in Rome said the volcano area and mainland quakes, separated by 275 miles, were not connected.
In 1980, an earthquake in the area of Naples killed 2,570 people and left 30,000 homeless in the southern Campania and Basilicata regions.
AP Photo
Slideshow: Earthquake Shakes Sicily
Italy Earthquake Kills 28 People
(AP Video)
Emergency crews grimly sifted through the debris of Thursday's quake, using cranes, sledgehammers, blowtorches and their bare hands. As they worked, the south-central Molise region was jolted by several aftershocks, including two back-to-back temblors that sent up clouds of dust and panicked residents into the streets.
A 9-year-old boy named Angelo, rescued just before dawn, was the last survivor, police said. Rescuers pulled four more bodies out later Friday, including two they mistakenly believed were alive.
In all, 26 bodies were pulled from the wrecked school — 24 children and two teachers. The quake also killed two women in nearby homes, officials said. At least one more body was believed to be inside the school.
A rescue worker, in hard hat and covered with dust, said most of the students were crushed at their desks as the roof crashed down upon them.
"A huge tragedy leaves us with only one certainty. It looks like the first grade class was wiped out," said a local priest, the Rev. Ferdinando Manna.
The magnitude 5.4 quake struck the Campobasso area, 50 miles northeast of Naples, at 11:33 a.m. Thursday. San Giuliano di Puglia, a village of 1,195 people, was hardest hit.
There were 56 students, four teachers and two janitors in the yellow school at the time; some of the students were gathered in the garden to celebrate Halloween, an increasingly popular holiday in Italy.
"I was told I had lost all of my nine first grade pupils," said teacher Clementina Simone, who was pulled from the rubble. "I wanted to go back and help, but the rescuers wouldn't let me."
When the town ran out of child-sized caskets, the small bodies were placed into adult-sized mahogany coffins. A sports complex became a makeshift morgue.
At dawn, emergency crews halted work to listen for sounds from the rubble, but heard nothing. In the hours after the collapse, faint voices had been heard, and rescuers worked furiously to reach the victims. The last survivor, the 9-year-old named Angelo, was pulled out at 3:54 a.m.
Simone recalled the terrifying fight for survival.
"I was holding the hand of a little boy who was saved with me," she said. "A large piece of concrete was hanging over my head and rescuers used an inflatable bag to move it."
One girl named Lilia told Italian television from her hospital bed, where she had her left hand in a small cast, that the children were drawing Pinocchio pictures, getting ready for their Halloween party, when the quake struck.
"I heard it crumble, and we screamed," she said. She said she hadn't heard news her friend Melissa. "She wasn't near me. I didn't even hear her voice. I don't know if she's still alive."
Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II, appearing at his window overlooking St. Peter's Square, offered prayers for the victims and encouragement to survivors and the rescue crews.
Rescue teams from nearby regions poured into the tiny village, and Premier Silvio Berlusconi arrived late Thursday. He said all measures would be taken to help residents.
The government's forestry department conducted an aerial survey of the area hardest hit and determined that about 70 percent of the homes were damaged, suffering either collapsed roofs or cracked walls. About 3,000 people were left homeless, the ANSA news agency said.
On Thursday, a 3.7 magnitude quake hit Mount Etna, the volcano in eastern Sicily which began erupting Sunday. Another quake, of the same magnitude, rattled western Sicily, off the coast of Palermo, Friday morning.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology in Rome said the volcano area and mainland quakes, separated by 275 miles, were not connected.
In 1980, an earthquake in the area of Naples killed 2,570 people and left 30,000 homeless in the southern Campania and Basilicata regions.
