Hopes of finding more survivors from Italy's powerful earthquake faded on August 26 with the death toll rising to 281 and the rescue operation in some of the stricken areas called off.
Three days after the quake struck the mountainous heart of the country, sniffer dogs and emergency crews continued to scour the town of Amatrice, which was leveled in the disaster, but there was no sign of life beneath the debris.
"Only a miracle can bring our friends back alive from the rubble, but we are still digging because many are missing," town mayor Sergio Pirozzi told reporters.
In nearby villages, such as Pescara del Tronto, rescuers pulled out after all the inhabitants had been accounted for.
Italy plans to hold a state funeral for around 40 of the victims on August 27 which will be held in the nearby city of Ascoli Piceno. A day of national mourning was announced, with flags due to fly at half mast around the country for the dead, who include a number of foreigners.
The civil protection department in Rome said 388 people were being treated for injuries in hospitals, and 40 of them were in critical condition. An estimated 2,500 people were left homeless by the most deadly quake in Italy since 2009.
Survivors with nowhere else to go are sleeping in neat rows of blue tents set up close to their flattened communities. The government has promised to rebuild the region, but some local people feared that would never happen.
More than 1,050 aftershocks have hit the area since the 6.2 magnitude quake early on August 24 bringing fresh damage to structures still standing. These included a bridge leading to Amatrice, which had to be closed on August 26, further complicating the rescue operation.
The foreigners who died in the disaster included six Romanians, a Spanish woman, a Canadian and an Albanian. Three British holidaymakers, including a 14-year-old boy, also died.
The area is popular with vacationers and local authorities were struggling to pin down how many visitors were present when the quake hit.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry said 17 Romanians were still missing. Italy has a large Romanian community, and some of the victims were residents in the country.
Reuters
