The number of people killed by a huge explosion caused by a gas leak in Rome rose to seven today when three more bodies were discovered during the night.
The blast ripped through an apartment block yesterday morning, killing three firemen who had arrived to check the gas leak. The other victims were residents or passersby.
The blast injured some 40 people and forced more than 800 residents to leave their homes for temporary shelters.
Fire brigades said that during the night rescue workers found three more bodies, including one which officials said could be a child.
A fourth fireman was in a coma and considered by doctors to have little chance of recovering.
The explosion ripped out the first and second floors of one building, hurling cars into the air, shattering windows in adjacent apartment blocks and bursting an underground water main.
The New York fire department, which lost hundreds of members in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Centre, sent its condolences to Rome's fire services.