As time passes, and further aftershocks continue to jolt the earthquake struck region of Abruzzo in Italy, more related news is emerging. Not all of it is pleasant either.
For example, I heard from a student of mine today that his brother’s computer monitor was destroyed by the earthquake. This may not be much of a surprise until you learn that my student’s brother’s flat is on the fourth floor of an apartment in central Rome. Yes, the effects of the quake were felt in the heart of Italy’s capital.
I also heard from someone I know who has a house in the earthquake hit zone, and luckily, this person, who was not in Italy at the time, told me that his house and the town in which his house is situated came off quite lightly.
More news is to be found in the Italian press, more specifically via the web site of the La Repubblica Italian newspaper.
Facebook Fraud
A heartless type, who made himself out to be related to an Italian Mediaset journalist, set up a ‘fund’ on Facebook to collect money for earthquake victims.
The only fund the money collected was likely to end up in was that of the pocket of the unscrupulous soul who set up this scam. Fortunately, this scam seems to have been uncovered.
Looting
Stop reading, start speaking
Stop translating in your head and start speaking Italian for real with the only audio course that prompt you to speak.
Down in the area hit by the earthquake, looters have already been at work, picking belongings from the collapsed houses of the victims of this disaster. Sad souls indeed.
Perhaps these cold hearted villains are related to the Facebook scammer mentioned above.
False Text Messages
More soulless folks have been adding to the heartache by pretending to be local officials and sending out false earthquake warnings via mobile phone text messages. Various buildings in the L’Aqulia region have been evacuated on account of these false alarms.
One hopes these idiots are tracked down and given a good talking to.
Development Opportunity
Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s Prime Minister, has already spotted a development opportunity. He had decided that a new town could be constructed in the earthquake zone. Perhaps now is not the time to be making such observations.
These items can be found, in Italian, on this page of La Repubblica.it
