Italian officials say quake death toll hits 247 Italian rescue workers are expecting fewer casualties than initially feared at the site of a hotel that was badly damaged in Wednesday's earthquake. The news agency ANSA reported that the toddler, Marisol Piermarini, was sleeping in her bed in the family's vacation home in Arquata del Tronto when the quake struck early Wednesday. The civil protection agency gave the updated figure shortly before midnight in Italy, some 20 hours after the earthquake struck. Residents forced from destroyed or damaged homes arrived clutching some of their own belongings and lining up for blankets, sweaters and other donated items to get through a chilly night in the hilltop town. A rescue worker told The Associated Press about 10 p.m.