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WATCH the incredible moment a 10-year-old girl is rescued after Italian earthquake

The girl was trapped in the rubble 17 hours after an earthquake struck
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First a foot can be seen. And then another foot.

Shouts go up and a firefighter lifts a shocked 10-year-old girl out from the rubble, as cheers ring out.

This emotional moment –showing a young girl being rescued from the rubble, 17 hours after an earthquake struck Italy – has been captured by SKY news.

The incredible footage shows the young girl, still apparently wearing her pajamas, clinging to her rescuer.

It is one of the few positive scenes to emerge from the disaster.

The earthquake struck central Italy at 3am local time, meaning many people were buried alive as they slept. So far the death toll stands at 159. However, hundreds more have been injured.

The three towns that have been worst affected – Amatrice, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto – are known as popular holiday towns. As it’s the height of summer in Italy at the moment, many of the victims are thought to be on holiday from Rome.

Rescuers have worked through the night to find survivors, according to the ABC. However, because the area is a popular holiday destination with lots of second homes, it’s not known how many of the houses were occupied. 

According to the ABC, rescuers have been frantically trying to enlist locals to help them identify where the houses bedrooms are located, as its thought that most people were asleep when the earthquake struck.

“Right now we feel terrible pain,” Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has said according to CNN. “Italy is a family that has been hit and struck, but we are not going to be stopped.”

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