Eight-Year-Old Girl Dies Saving Her Younger Sister After Devastating Earthquake in Italy

An eight-year-old girl has died while saving her four-year-old sister when they were trapped inside their holiday home in Pescara del Tronto during the devastating earthquake in Italy.

Amidst the stories of bravery after the catastrophic 6.2-magnitude quake that struck central Italy on Wednesday comes one act of courage after rescuers found the two girls buried together in the rubble of their holiday home, but only one of them survived.

The girls’ grandmother, 64-year-old Angela Cafini, recalls the heartbreaking moment her four-year-old grand daughter, Giorgia Renaldo, escaped with barely a scratch while her older sister, Giulia Renaldo, lay lifeless on top of her to protect her as the house collapsed around them.

Mrs Cafini wept as she told Daily Mail Online how Giulia was dead by the time rescuers reached her body while Giorgia was alive and is now recovering in hospital.

“They were found together hours after the earthquake hit us.

“They were together. One was alive and the other was dead. [The older sister] had used her body to protect her little sister because she was not harmed at all. She has no injuries.

“It is a miracle that she is alive, but I am torn. I have lost one granddaughter and one has lived,” she said.

Mrs Cafini said that the girls and their parents, were on a week’s holiday from their home in Rome when the quake struck. Her daughter, Michaela and son-in-law, Fabio suffered crush injuries and were taken to hospital in Ascoli Pinceino where they are recovering. When they were transported from the village, they had no idea if their two daughters were alive or dead.

Mrs Cafini said she was staying at another house previously owned by her own mother and escaped unscathed when the village was wiped out.

She said that rescuers brought her to a cluster of blue tents erected by the side of the main road leading to Pescara del Tronto, where she waited for news about her granddaughters. “After about 15 hours at 7pm we got word that they had found the girls. One was alive and the other was dead,” Mrs Cafini said.

Rescue teams are still searching through the rubble in the village in the faint hope of finding other survivors.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk