This is the dramatic moment a 10-year-old girl was pulled out alive from the rubble after spending 17 hours trapped upside down in debris from the Italian earthquake.

The child was hauled to safety by rescuers who shouted 'she's alive' as they carried her from the ruins of a building in the devastated central Italian town of Pescara del Tronto.

Footage shows just the dust-covered legs of the youngster as emergency crews tried desperately to free her from the rubble.

One rescuer could be heard saying: 'You can hear something under here. Quiet, quiet.'

He then urged the child to wriggle free, saying: 'Come on, Giulia, come on, Giulia. ... Watch your head.' Cheers broke out when she was pulled out. 

It was a brief moment of joy on a day in which at least 247 people were killed in the region following a 6.2-magnitude quake at 3.30am yesterday.