Italy: UNESCO to send mission to evaluate quake damage to culture

Rome, 30 May (AKI) - The United Nations will send experts to Italy to evaluate damage by recent earthquakes in the country's north.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) director-general Irina Bokova told Adnkronos on the sidelines of a conference in Kazakhistan's capital, Astana that a mission will be sent "very soon" in the quake area "to evaluate together with Italian authorities what can be done to rebuild."

A quakes on Tuesday and 20 May in Italy's northeast Emilia-Romagna region killed at least 23 people, left around 14 thousand homeless. Medieval and Renaissance-era buildings were among the structures that crumbled under the force of the quakes.

Italy has almost 50 UNESCO cultural heritage sites, more than any other country.