Chilean woman living in L'Aquila tells story of how she survived the earthquake

ROME.- Chilean national María Cristina Jara (44) who currently resides in the city of L'Aquila is thankful to be alive after her home was destroyed by the earthquake that ravaged central Italy on Monday of this week.

Jara is one of the 28,000 people left homeless as a result of the violent tremor, which has so far been blamed for 279 deaths.

"The house was still standing after the earthquake, but it was in very poor condition and the walls later fell down during the various aftershocks", the woman stated.

Jara says that she managed to survive along with a nephew that lives with her, her sister, her husband and her three children who also lived in the neighborhood.

"As soon as we felt the earthquake, we ran outside as the house began to fall apart, but we managed to escape", indicated the Chilean woman, who is now living in a truck.

Jara says she has lived in L'Aquila since 1992 and does not plan to return to Chile, but would rather wait for the situation to pass and hope that she will be given a new home, "even if it is modest and made of wood".