Italy Earthquake: 10-Year-Old Girl Rescued From Rubble 17 Hours Later
"You can hear something under here. Quiet, quiet," one rescue worker said.
— -- It took 17 hours and several firefighters to rescue her, but 10-year-old Giulia was pulled from the rubble alive today after an earthquake struck central Italy Wednesday.
As rescue workers raced to find survivors beneath the crumbled buildings in the town of Pescara del Tronto, about 100 miles northeast of Rome, they spotted Giulia’s legs and carefully removed wreckage around the trapped girl to get her out this morning.
"You can hear something under here. Quiet, quiet," one rescue worker said, according to The Associated Press, before urging her: "Come on, Giulia, come on, Giulia."
Her last name has not been released and the extent of her injuries, if any, is unknown.
Giulia’s dramatic rescue was captured on footage. The girl emerged caked with dirt and dust, and people clapped and cheered as a firefighter carried her away from the flattened building in one of the towns hit hardest by the powerful quake.
The 6.2-magnitude earthquake that rocked central Italy early Wednesday killed at least 247 people, injured hundreds more and left thousands homeless, according to Italy's Civil Protection agency.
Several aftershocks have occurred since the initial quake struck, around 3:30 a.m. local time, and tremors were felt as far away as Rome, more than 100 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.