Imma Mauriello, aged ten, was pulled out alive from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in Afragola, near Naples, on Saturday. The two-storey building had collapsed on Friday night and three people, including Imma’s grandmother, with whom she was spending the night, were killed. The other two victims were a couple who were found locked in an embrace.
Emergency teams and onlookers cheered as Imma was rescued after being buried for fifteen hours. She has a crushed foot plus leg and stomach injuries but no broken bones. She told reporters that, while she was trapped, she had thought of her parents and her twin brother, with whom she always plays but argues a lot. Finally, deprived of air, she thought she was going to die.
Imma’s first request, after being rescued, was for a hazelnut ice cream and so many well-wishers brought ice creams to the hospital that her family have had to request that their privacy be respected. The little girl is still in a delicate condition and does not yet know that her grandmother did not survive.
It was, in fact, Imma’s twin brother who told their mother not to give up hope as the hours passed after the tragedy.
Torrential rain is believed to have caused structural damage to the building but an official from Italy’s Civil Protection Office has said that this cannot be the only reason for the building’s collapse.
Italy Magazine sends its best wishes to Imma and her family.
