Cat rescued from Italy quake rubble after five days
After more than five days, Daniela, a survivor of the devastating 6.2-magnitude earthquake that struck central Italy, had little hope to find her pet cat Gioia - which means 'Joy' in Italian.
The cat had been trapped under the rubble in Daniela's house in Amatrice, one of the worst-hit areas by the quake, which killed 292 people.
Unable to come back to her home, which completely collapsed in an aftershock, Daniela begged Italian firefighters to find her pet.
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"Please find her, she's all I have left,"she told them.
As the the fire service dug through the ruins with a bulldozer, a member of the crew spotted the cat - dehydrated but alive.
A video of the rescue was posted on the Italian fire service Twitter account:
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The cat is one of 21 animals that was saved by the ENPA Centre which was set up in Amatrice on Monday.
The rescue is a rare glimmer of light in the town, which is about to host a state funeral for 37 of the quake victims in a tent complex.
Some 231 quake victims were found in Amatrice and 11 more in nearby Accumoli. The bodies of as many as 10 people, are believed still buried in the rubble. Fifty people were killed in Le Marche.
Italian prosecutors are taking the first steps to investigate if construction firms bore any responsibility for buildings that collapsed in the quake.
Amatrice's elementary school, in particular, collapsed during the quake despite being renovated in 2012 using earthquake funds.
The church tower in Amatrice - whose Medieval centre has been completely flattened by the quake - collapsed on a home killing a family of four, despite also having been recently renovated.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
