Two teens dead in Samos earthquake

Two school students were killed in Samos after a wall collapsed during a  powerful earthquake that struck in the eastern Aegean on Friday, the state-run broadcaster ERT said.

The teens were pulled out of the rubble in the ongoing search and rescue operation that is underway on the island.

The 17- and 15-year-old victims were returning from school when the wall of the first floor of the building collapsed, crushing the two students in a narrow street in the city of Samos.

Fire fighters who rushed to the scene were too late.

“Words are not enough to describe how one feels about the loss of children. In these difficult times, our thoughts are with their families and the unbearable pain they experience in Samos,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a tweet. “I express my most sincere condolences.”

So far, eight people were reported injured in the earthquake who are being treated in a hospital and a clinic on the island. According to information, their injuries were not life threatening.

Most damages were found on old houses in the towns of Pythagorio, Karlovasi and Vathy.

Part of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Karlovasi has collapsed. Nobody was inside the building.