We just haven't got enough coffins Cemetery worker at Friuli

The local military and Red Cross are on the scene. They are due to be joined by rescue workers from Venice and Trieste.

Officials from the affected towns are appealing for medicine and emergency lights for hospitals. American army units in the area have flown in equipment and medical staff by helicopter and flown out the injured.

Moved to tears

President Giovanni Leone and the Interior Minister, Francesco Cossiga, visited the earthquake zone by helicopter. They were moved to tears when they spoke to the injured at a hospital in the small town of Maiano, 10 miles (16km) north-west of Udine.

The hill town of Gemona, further north, was almost flattened, killing at least 100 people. A cemetery worker told reporters: "We just haven't got enough coffins."

Inmates of the town's prison tried to scale the walls in their panic to get out but were beaten back by machine-gun fire.

This last quake, which measured 6.5 on the Richter scale, was by far the strongest of the 23 tremors which began on the night of 5 May. It could be felt in France, West Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Yugoslavia.

Most of the 180,000 people who live in the Friuli region spent the night outdoors for fear of further aftershocks.

The Italian tourist office in London has said that there were no known British casualties.

The Queen has sent a message of sympathy to the Italian Government.

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