A strong aftershock has cut off a key route into the earthquake-stricken Italian town of Amatrice as the death toll from the earthquake rises further.

With the death toll now at 278, hope of finding more survivors is fading.

Photo: AFP

A road bridge on a main route into the town which had been used by emergency crews was badly damaged in the 4.7 magnitude aftershock, one of more than 1000.

Sniffer dogs and emergency crews were continuing to scour the town for survivors.

The initial earthquake struck regions east of Rome at 3.36am local time on Wednesday.

Officials said 181 of the victims had been identified, including at least 21 children.

The Italian government declared a day of national mourning, and has scheduled a state funeral ceremony for the victims.

On Friday the rescue operation in some of the stricken areas was called off.

"Only a miracle can bring our friends back alive from the rubble, but we are still digging because many are missing," Amatrice Mayor Sergio Pirozzi said.

"Amatrice will have to be razed to the ground," said Mr Pirozzi, who urged youngsters not to leave the area, saying that would mean the end of their community.

Photo: AFP

Some 218 of the 278 deaths were in Amatrice, where barely a single building was left unscathed.

The town was last year voted one of the most beautiful old towns in Italy and is famous for its local cuisine.

"No night can last so long that the sun never rises again. I am convinced that Amatrice will rise again. We owe it to the people who died here," Mr Pirozzi said

About 15 people, including children, had not been accounted for, he said.

Rescuers in some nearby villages, such as Pescara del Tronto, pulled out of the towns after all the inhabitants had been accounted for.

The civil protection department in Rome said 388 people were being treated for injuries in hospitals, and 40 of them were in critical condition.

An estimated 2500 people have been left homeless.

Survivors with nowhere else to go are sleeping in neat rows of blue tents set up close to their flattened communities.

The government promised to rebuild the region, but some local people fear that will never happen.

"I'm afraid our village and others like it will just die. Most people don't live here year round anyway. In the winter time the towns are virtually empty," said Salvatore Petrucci, 77, from the nearby hamlet of Trisunga.

"We may be the last ones to have lived in Trisunga."

The foreigners who died in the disaster included six Romanians, a Spanish woman, a Canadian and an Albanian. Three British holidaymakers, including a 14-year-old boy, also died.

The area is popular with tourists and local authorities were struggling to pin down how many visitors were present when the earthquake hit.

The Romanian foreign ministry said 17 Romanians were still missing. Italy has a large Romanian community, and some of the victims were Italian residents.

- Reuters</s>Italian authorities say the death toll in central Italy's devastating earthquake has risen to 278.

Civil protection officials gave the updated toll at a briefing Friday afternoon, adding that 238 other people caught up in the quake were rescued.

The death toll in the Arquata area of the earthquake zone has stabilized with 49 dead hailing from the region. Firefighting official Bruno Frattasi says there are no more people there unaccounted for, and efforts now were making sure all the dead were returned to their loved ones.

The situation remains more uncertain in the Amatrice area, where the vast majority of earthquake dead have come from. The mayor estimates at least 15 more people remain unaccounted for there.

Romania says at least 21 of its citizens are still missing in the earthquake zone.

Destruction from Italy quake a grave warning for California's old brick buildings

Crews find living among the dead as search goes on for survivors of Italy quake that killed hundreds</s>ASCOLI PICENO, Italy (AP) — The Latest on the Italian earthquake (all times local):

Italian authorities say the death toll in an Italian earthquake has risen yet again as bodies continued to be recovered and now stands at 290.

The Civil Protection agency gave the updated figure late Saturday morning just ahead of a state funeral for some of the victims being attended by President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Matteo Renzi.

The worst hit town was Amatrice, which now has 230 confirmed deaths. It is there that the death toll has been rising.

Elsewhere, 11 were killed in Accumoli and 49 in Arquato del Tronto.

Italian authorities say the death toll in an Italian earthquake has risen to 284 people after three more bodies were recovered overnight from the rubble of Amatrice, the hilltop town that bore the brunt of the devastation.

The Civil Protection agency gave the updated figure on Saturday morning.

There were 224 deaths in Amatrice, with the rest in nearby towns.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella has visited Amatrice, a town devastated in the earthquake that hit central Italy this week and the place with the highest death toll.

Mattarella was guided by town mayor, Sergio Pirozzi, who showed him the extent of the damage. The president met and thanked rescue workers, who have been working against the clock since early Wednesday to save people trapped in rubble and recover the victims.

The president, who will later attend a state funeral for some of the victims, was taken only to the edge of the town, because it is too dangerous to enter the heart of the medieval town due to the extent of the destruction.

Residents of an Italian region devastated by an earthquake were rattled by a series of aftershocks overnight, the strongest measuring 4.2, as Italy began a day of national mourning on Saturday.

The national mourning will include a state funeral for some of the victims in Ascoli Piceno to be attended by Premier Matteo Renzi and President Sergio Mattarella.

Ahead of the funeral, caskets were lined up in a gym where mourners have been bidding farewell to loved ones, kneeling, crying and placing their hands on flower-covered caskets.

This corrects the first name of Premier Sergio Mattarella</s>Death toll rises to 267 as hopes for survivors begin to dim.

Strong aftershocks rattled residents and rescue crews alike Friday as hopes began to dim that firefighters would find any more survivors from Italy’s earthquake. The first funerals were scheduled to be observed for some of the 267 dead.

Some of hard-hit Amatrice’s crumbled buildings suffered more cracks after the biggest aftershock of the morning struck at 6-28 a.m. The U.S. Geological Service said it had a magnitude of 4.7, while the Italian geophysics institute measured it at 4.8.

The aftershock was preceded by more than a dozen weaker ones overnight and was followed by another nine in the subsequent hour some of the nearly 1,000 aftershocks that have rocked the seismic area of Italy’s central Apennine Mountains in the two days since the original quake Wednesday.

Rescue efforts continued through the night, but more than a day-and-a-half had passed since the last person was extracted alive from the rubble. While Premier Matteo Renzi hailed the fact that 215 people had been rescued since the quake, civil protection officials reported only a steadily rising death toll that stood early on Friday at 267.

Nevertheless, civil protection operations chief Immacolata Postiglione insisted that the rescue effort continued in full, “in search of other people trapped in the rubble.”

Italian news reports said the first funerals were to be observed on Friday for some of the victims -- in Rome, for the son of a local police chief; in Pomezia Terme for two grandmothers and their two grandchildren</s>The Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) confirms on Friday the death of yet other two Romanian nationals in the Italian earthquake, the death toll thus reaching eight.

“According to the last information, the MAE regretfully announces that following the earthquake of 24 August in Italy, two other deaths of Romanian nationals were confirmed. The current number of the Romanians’ death toll in Italy tragedy is eight,” the MAE specifies.

Considering the complexity of the necessary actions to manage the situation, out of the minister’s order a consular mobile team with the MAE Rapid Reaction Unit trained to intervene from the very debut of the tragedy will take off for Rome, urgently, on Saturday morning to back the mobile teams of the Romanian Embassy in Rome and of the General Consulate of Romania in Bologna, which are already on the spot, the source adds.

As for the information regarding the missing Romanian citizens, the number under the MAE attention reaches 19. The attempts to identifying them are under way, as checking are permanently covered in coordination with the Italian competent authorities.

The MAE reminds that the affected Romanians can request consular assistance by dialling: (0039) 06 835 233 58, (0039) 06 835 233 56 for the Romanian Embassy; and (0039) 051 5872120, (0039) 051 5872209 for the Consular Office in Bologna; calls will be redirected to the Call and Support Centre for Romanian Abroad (CCSCRS) and taken by call centre operators around the clock.

The ministry also extends heartfelt condolence to the families of the Romanian citizens killed in this tragedy and continues to provide full assistance.

The Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) confirms on Friday the death of yet other two Romanian nationals in the Italian earthquake, the death toll thus reaching eight.

“According to the last information, the MAE regretfully announces that following the earthquake of 24 August in Italy, two other deaths of Romanian nationals were confirmed. The current number of the Romanians’ death toll in Italy tragedy is eight,” the MAE specifies.

Considering the complexity of the necessary actions to manage the situation, out of the minister’s order a consular mobile team with the MAE Rapid Reaction Unit trained to intervene from the very debut of the tragedy will take off for Rome, urgently, on Saturday morning to back the mobile teams of the Romanian Embassy in Rome and of the General Consulate of Romania in Bologna, which are already on the spot, the source adds.

As for the information regarding the missing Romanian citizens, the number under the MAE attention reaches 19. The attempts to identifying them are under way, as checking are permanently covered in coordination with the Italian competent authorities.

The MAE reminds that the affected Romanians can request consular assistance by dialling: (0039) 06 835 233 58, (0039) 06 835 233 56 for the Romanian Embassy; and (0039) 051 5872120, (0039) 051 5872209 for the Consular Office in Bologna; calls will be redirected to the Call and Support Centre for Romanian Abroad (CCSCRS) and taken by call centre operators around the clock.

The ministry also extends heartfelt condolence to the families of the Romanian citizens killed in this tragedy and continues to provide full assistance.
The official death toll rises to 278.