Rescue workers frantically search for survivors as death toll rises to 179

Firefighters have saved 100 people after entire building blocks were flattened in the mountain city of L'Aquila and nearby villages, following Monday's tremors.

Last night Italian authorities were accused of having “deaths on their conscience” after ignoring warnings about yesterday’s deadly earthquake which injured more than 1,500 people.

Frantic rescue teams were ­continuing to comb the rubble for ­survivors as the authorities predicted the death toll would top 150 from the quake ­centred on the city of L’Aquila in central Italy.

The number of injured has reached 1,500 and up to 100,000 people were made homeless. Entire medieval towns were razed when the earthquake struck as people lay asleep early yesterday.

Around 250 people are still missing and 15,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed.

Incredibly, it emerged that seismo­logist Gioacchino Giuliani had warned “the Big One” was coming and even toured the region in a van with loudspeakers warning people as late as last week.

But he was reported to the police by authorities for “needlessly spreading panic” and was dismissed by L’Aquila’s mayor and other civic officials.

As the full story emerged about one of Italy’s deadliest quakes, Dr Giuliani, a seismologist at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, said: “The authorities have these deaths on their conscience.”

Dr Giuliani based his theory on increasingly high levels of radon gas that had been noted in the area and even posted his findings on his website but he was forced to take them down and yesterday the site was offline.

He said: “I could see what was about to happen and I could not do anything because I had been warned not to say anything about an earthquake.

“Now there are deaths and thousands of people without a home. The region didn’t even go through this during the bombing of the Second World War.

"We saw houses moving, a ­tremendous ­sensation, for me was tinged with anger as people had dismissed me as a crank and said terrible things about me.

“I was called an idiot and told that earthquakes just cannot be predicted. Now I am trembling with anger.”

More than 5,000 emergency workers risked aftershocks while searching whole villages which had been flattened by the powerful quake that measured 6.3 on the Richter scale.

The disaster zone was transformed into a massive refugee camp with tents for many of the hordes of homeless. But relief work was overshadowed by Dr Giuliani’s claims that dozens of lives could have been saved if his warnings had been heeded.

Prime Minister Silvio ­Berlusconi last night cancelled a state visit to Russia and declared a national emergency.

Pope Benedict prayed for the victims, officials launched appeals for blood and offers of support and condolences came from across Europe.

The scale of the tragedy began to emerge in terrible images from a region previously known for stunning mountains and historic towns.

One ­village, Onna, near L’Aquila, was said to have been “wiped off the map”. All its houses were destroyed and in fields ­outside coffins were lined up in rows as estimates of the dead reached 50 out of its 400 population.

One man stood in tears outside the ruins of his house and said: “My parents are in there – it’s just a pile of rubble. Down the road is a family with children and their house is just rubble. How on earth can this have ­happened?”

In the city of L’Aquila, which lies about 60 miles north-east of Rome, roads were strewn with rubble and many ­surviving buildings had huge cracks.

Four children were killed when their house collapsed but a girl of two, still alive, was dug from the ruins of her home with her mother’s body wrapped round her.

One firefighter said: “It was tragic to see. The girl has been injured and been taken to hospital by ­helicopter. Her mother sacrificed herself by ­shielding her from the debris.”

In another case, a 20-year-old student was pulled alive from the ruins of the university halls of residence after ­telephoning his sister who directed emergency ­services to him.

In the nearby town of Fossa, a child and an elderly woman died when “the side of a mountain “crashed on to the village”. Five people were also killed in the village of Castelnuovo. Around 26 towns and cities were hit.

Guido Bertolaso, head of the Italian Civil Defence, said: “Many, many ­buildings have collapsed and there are people trapped inside.

"Thousands of people have been left homeless and we are providing ­emergency shelters, such as tents, for them.

"This is the worst ­disaster to have hit Italy since the start of the ­millennium and I would appeal to people not to go to the area.”

Last night many ­isolated villages had yet to be reached.

Many of L’Aquila’s homeless survivors were given temporary accommodation in tents at the city’s sports stadium.

Rescuers were seen sifting through rubble with bare hands as they tried to reach victims and bloodied survivors were led from collapsed houses.

Some survivors, fearing more ­tremors, gathered outside in the streets and in open spaces waiting for help and ­directions from civil protection teams.

Mr Berlusconi, after flying over the disaster scene in a helicopter, said: “Right now 4,000 rescuers are working to extract people from the rubble.”

He added that a camp with 2,000 tents, each capable of housing 8-10 ­people, was currently being set up in L’Aquila for the homeless, while around 4,000 beds in local hotels had also been put aside for survivors.

He pledged: “Nobody will be left ­without help.” He added ominously: “Nobody can tell if there will be further quakes in the next few hours or days.”

Last night Stefano Pezzopane, president of the province of L’Aquila, called for extra police amid reports of looting.

Up to 200 aftershocks have been reported, the strongest of which was 4.6, just an hour after the main quake.