Jul 10, 2009, 13:01 GMT
L'Aquila, Italy - Carla Bruni, the Italian-born wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, brought her charm and solidarity Friday to the people of L'Aquila, the central Italian city that was devastated by a powerful earthquake three months ago.
Carla Bruni, wife of Frency President Nicolas Sarkozy, tours the city of L'Aquila, Italy on 10 July 2009. The French First Lady decided to tour the city devastated by an earthquake in April 2009, one day after the other G8 first ladies. Bruni also stayed away from the G8 leaders wives' audience with Pope Benedict XVI on 08 July 2009 and arrived in Italy late 09 July 2009. EPA/ETTORE FERRARI
'This is terrible,' she said as she visited the rubble of the medieval town. 'I am here because I want to help these people. I am Italian and I want to help,' Italian media reported her as saying.
Mrs Sarkozy chatted with local residents and visited both the city's hospital and its badly-damaged church of the Anime Sante. The French government is to contribute half of the money needed for its restoration, she said.
Numerous world leaders took the opportunity to visit L'Aquila on the sidelines of a Group of Eight (G8) summit taking place in the nearby town of Coppito. Among them were US President Barack Obama and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney also visited the town on Thursday and announced plans to use the city as a location for a film.
Some 300 people died and more than 52,000 were made homeless when a tremor measuring 6.3 moment magnitude shook the city and its province on April 6 - the deadliest earthquake to hit Italy since the 1980 earthquake near Naples.
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