At least 11 dead after earthquake destroys Italian towns

Central Italy was ravaged overnight by a destructive earthquake, which measured a powerful 6.2 on the Richter scale.

Reports on the number of casualties have varied, but so far it seems as though at least 11 people have been killed with the death toll set to rise further. The Mayor of Amatrice, which was one of the worst areas affected, has said that 'half of the town is gone'. He told RAI state television:

"Now that daylight has come, we see that the situation is even more dreadful than we feared with buildings collapsed, people trapped under the rubble and no sound of life. "The aim now is to save as many lives as possible. There are voices under the rubble, we have to save the people there."

https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/768305836653367296 The town of Accumoli, near Perugia, was also affected particularly badly. Shocks could be felt in the capital Rome, roughly 100 miles away from the epicentre. The BBC report that some buildings in the capital shook for 20 seconds. Reports from Associated Press suggest that a family a four was trapped beneath fallen debris without any signs of life. https://twitter.com/AP/status/768303706542485505 Two more people are believed to have died in the village of Pescara del Tronto. Pictures from Armatrice, posted to social media, show the devastation that the earthquake has caused. https://twitter.com/IanSinkins/status/768349432131817477 https://twitter.com/ImadSalamoun/status/768328891953979392