National emergency fund for quake relief

(see related)(ANSA) - Rome, August 24 - The national emergency fund has 234 million euros that will be used for immediate aid to earthquake-stricken towns and villages in central Italy, the economy ministry said Wednesday.
    "We will stand by local institutions and citizens in the coming days both in the acute emergency phase and in the reconstruction to follow," Economy Undersecretary Paola De Micheli said in a statement.
    "We want residents in areas that are now under rubble to know that we have the resources and the experience to intervene, overcome the emergency, and make a fresh start". Several towns and villages in the mountainous central regions of Lazio and Marche have been devastated by a 6.0 magnitude quake that struck in the early hours of Wednesday morning.