Quake: Carabinieri 'monuments men'

(ANSA) - Rome, August 25 - Carabinieri police have deployed 430 officers in earthquake-stricken central Italy, including 30 'monuments men' from Italy's new cultural defence blue helmets who are assessing the extent of the damage to local monuments, officials said Thursday.
    "The blue helmets have gone into action for the first time," said Brigadier General Marco Minicucci, who added the unit's baptism of fire was supposed to be in the Syrian city of Palmyra, which has been destroyed by Islamic fundamentalists. As well, the carabinieri force has deployed a special forensic unit for the identification of victims who have not been claimed by relatives. That unit also went into action in Thailand after a deadly 2004 tsunami.
    The total of 430 officers "went in support of their colleagues stationed at Amatrice, Accumoli, and Arquata, who immediately turned out to aid the population as soon as the first earthquake hit at 03:36 (on Wednesday)," the general told a press conference.
    The mountain villages of Amatrice, Accumoli, and Arquata were the hardest hit by the quake, which has flattened them and killed hundreds.