Rescue workers searched today for what could be the last survivor of Italy's devastating earthquake but said there was no guarantee anyone was left alive under the rubble.
A day after Italians held a state funeral for the victims of Monday's quake, the death toll rose to 291 after more bodies were pulled from the debris. Nearly 40,000 people were made homeless.
Sniffer dogs picked up a human scent late yesterday coming from beneath the ruins of what was a four-storey building in L'Aquila, the medieval mountain city hardest hit by the 6.3 magnitude quake. Rescue workers also heard noises.
But it went quiet overnight and officials say dogs could have responded to the scent of a corpse, or even just human blood. At least nine bodies have already been pulled from that site, firemen said.
"We dug all night and now we just have to wait. We can hear almost nothing now," a rescue worker said.
Still, on the sixth day after the quake, hopes are fading of finding people alive. The latest survivor to be rescued, a 20-year-old woman, was pulled from the rubble on Tuesday.
The Civil Protection Agency has signalled that the search is almost over and many officials expect the agency to wind up rescue operations tomorrow. Violent aftershocks continued to shake the Abruzzo region overnight and into the morning, further terrifying survivors, many of whom prepared to celebrate Easter homeless.
Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi estimated that almost 24,000 of the homeless were living in emergency camps and 15,000 had been given shelter in hotels or private homes.
Mr Berlusconi, a billionaire media mogul, has offered to put up the homeless at three of his own properties.
"I will do what I can too, by offering some of my houses," said the 72-year-old prime minister.
Attention is now starting to turn to the reconstruction of a region that relies on tourism, farming and family firms. More than half the companies in the Abruzzo region are out of action.
One estimate put the damage at up to €3 billion, but its impact on Italy's economy, which is worth nearly €2 trillion a year and is already mired in recession, is expected to be limited.
The government has also announced an inquiry after president Giorgio Napolitano said shoddy construction may be behind the collapse of modern buildings that should have been quake-proof.
Reuters