I'll come as promised pope tells quake survivors

(ANSA) - Ascoli Piceno, September 28 - Pope Francis told a delegation from Marche towns hit by the August 24 earthquake Wednesday that he would keep his promise to visit the areas. The pope "confirmed that he will come to the quake zones. He said 'I haven't done so yet so as to not hamper the rescue operations," Ascoli Piceno Mayor Guido Castelli told reporters after attending the pope's general audience with Arquata del Tronto Mayor Aleandro Petrucci and Ascoli Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole, before meeting the pontiff briefly. About a thousand faithful from Ascoli attended the weekly general audience, and many quake survivors. The quake flattened several villages in central Italy on the borders of Lazio and Marche and killed 297 people. The worst-hot villages were Amatrice and Accumoli in Lazio and Arquata del Tronto in Marche.