ROME, April 7 (RIA Novosti) - The death toll in a
powerful earthquake that hit the mountainous region of Abruzzo
in central Italy has risen to 228, the Italian TV channel Sky
reported Tuesday.
The channel previously put the number of victims at 211, with
11 people listed as missing. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
said earlier in the day that 207 bodies had been recovered.
About 1,500 people were injured in the quake, which hit
early Monday and measured 5.8 on the Richter scale. Thousands
of buildings have been destroyed and some 70,000 people left
homeless.
Italian Infrastructure and Transport Minister Altero
Matteoli said over 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) would be
needed to rebuild the damaged homes.
Berlusconi, who canceled a two-day visit to Russia to deal
with the tragedy, said the country did not need aid from other
states. He also said the government had allocated 30 billion
euros ($40 billion) to deal with the consequences of the
earthquake.
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