Italy: Day of Grief

After April 10th Thursday evening’s after shock of the earthquake, rescue workers discovered 2 more victims, a mother of 53 yrs. and her daughter of 18 yrs. In Corriere della Sera, Berlusconi announced his sorrow for those who lost loved ones during the earthquake. “I want to thank the residents of Abruzzo for their composure and their demonstration of public spirit. It is a lesson for all Italians. Today, their dead are the dead of the entire nation”. Berlusconi expects to ask the European Commission for funds between 400 to 500 million euros over three years. The Prime Minister said, “I want to thank the residents of Abruzzo for their composure and their demonstration of public spirit. It is a lesson for all Italians. Today, their dead are the dead of the entire nation”. He wants to restore Italy back from its ruins.

Italy- Sun Kim

A "Camping Weekend" for Italian Earthquake Victims

After an earthquake occurred in central Italy leaving over 250 dead, Prime Minister Berlusconi informed the thousands of citizens left homeless that they should view this as a "weekend of camping."

The natural disaster destroyed the town of L'Aquila. The 17,000 people left homeless were forced to "camp" outside in freezing cold temperatures and endure hail storms. However, Berlusconi told reporters for the channel on which the interview aired that those left homeless "lacked nothing" and were provided with medications, hot meals and shelter.

Of course, as could be expected, the interview did not air on the Italian television stations, but rather a German television station not correlated with the Berlusconi media empire. He made the comments as rescue workers searched for survivors from the powerful aftershocks.

-Jamie Bezozo
Italy