The Ministry of Defense has set up a special Task Group composed of men and means of the genius of the Army, to intervene, in collaboration with the civil protection department and in coordination with other state administrations, in the demolition, removal and transport of rubble, in the municipalities of central Italy hit by the earthquake a year ago. Already today, in Arquata del Tronto (AP), the first nucleus of about 100 soldiers is active, destined to operate in the province of Ascoli Piceno.
In the next days, the army's engineers will provide for the demolition and transport of the rubble to the storage area identified in the territory of the municipality of Monteprandone (AP). Subsequently, based on the requests that will be formulated, the Task Group will provide up to 300 military and 190 means, with which to set up two additional units, which will operate, respectively, in the province of Macerata and in the areas between Lazio and Abruzzo.
The operation represents the continuation of the activities that the Defense had put in place in the first hours after the earthquake to help the populations. In fact, in the immediacy of the devastating earthquake of 24 August last, the armed forces intervened with a device that reached about 1.800 units and over 500 vehicles for the performance of rescue activities to the population, restoration of the roads and essential infrastructures, anti -sciacallaggio, packaging and distribution of food. The commitment then extended to the urbanization works for the Emergency Housing Solutions, to the verification of the stability of public and private buildings, as well as to the recovery of works of art.
The continuation of seismic events along with the exceptional wave of bad weather in January 2017 led, then, to further increase the forces in the field, raising, in a few hours, 3.300 the number of soldiers employed and 950 that of the means made available. Special forces structures were also deployed to recover people who remained isolated in mountain and rural areas, as evidence of the dual use of military units.
