Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has paid tribute to the victims of an earthquake that devastated entire towns five years ago. Nearly 300 people were killed when a 6.2-magnitude quake struck central Italy in the early hours of 24 August 2016. It was the first of more than a dozen tremors that hit the region over the following months and left thousands of people homeless.
As many as 237 people were buried under the rubble in Amatrice, a medieval hill town that is the birthplace of Italy’s famed Amatriciana pasta dish. A further 51 people were killed in the nearby municipality of Arquata and 11 others in Accumoli.
