Italy quake village evacuated

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Saturday, 2 November, 2002, 09:34 GMT

A second tremor terrified already shaken villagers

Residents from the southern Italian village where 29 people were killed in an earthquake have spent a second night in the open.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of San Giuliano di Puglia after it was hit by further tremors. Residents were taken to sleep in tents.

The school collapsed on itself while other buildings were left standing

The bodies of all 26 children and three adults killed by the quake have now been recovered from the rubble of the village primary school.

Correspondents say villagers' attention - and anger - is now directed at why the school collapsed when surrounding buildings remained standing.

An entire class of six-year-olds were among the victims killed in the ruins of the school - which was built 50 years ago and had had a concrete second floor added recently.

Grieving relatives had to endure a series of aftershocks on Friday - the strongest of which was 5.3 on the Richter scale - and there were further tremors in the early hours of Saturday.

Many people have been treated in the streets for shock.

The 1,200 inhabitants of the close-knit community have been transferred to tented camps which have been set up in a valley below the town.

"After so much work, illness and sacrifice we have ended up in a camp and children have been killed under a school," said one grandmother as she was evacuated.

The authorities have declared that homes in the village are unsafe and out of bounds until further notice.

Focus on standards

Civil protection officials are expected to meet on Saturday to discuss protection for the region, which had not been designated a high-risk earthquake zone.

Infrastructure Minister Pietro Lunardi is reported to have set up a commission of inquiry into the collapse of the school, which was the most badly damaged building in the mediaeval village.

"All of the houses in the town remained standing except for a few cracks, the only building destroyed was the school," Mr Lunardi was quoted as saying. "For this reason I have named an inquiry commission".

Attention is focusing on building standards, particularly as illegal construction is not uncommon in southern Italy.

There are also questions about why the region had not been officially designated an earthquake-prone zone - a tag which would have required stronger, anti-earthquake building regulations.

And some are asking whether the school should have remained open after earlier, smaller, quakes were felt - when others in the area were closed.

Italy has declared a state of emergency to ensure funding is swiftly available, and to allow the army to help in recovery operations in the Molise region, where some 3,000 people have lost their homes.

In Rome, the Pope said a "heartfelt prayer" for the victims of San Giuliano.

The school's gym has been turned into a makeshift mortuary - 26 small white coffins have been laid out for the children.

The BBC's David Willey, in the village, said the grief was overpowering, with a stunned silence replacing the shrieks and wails which accompanied the desperate search for survivors.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2002


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