Italy on Saturday observed a day of national mourning for the people who died when a powerful 6.2-magnitude quake hit the mountainous central regions claiming the lives of 291 persons.
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Even as the funeral service was taking place, another person died in hospital.
The coffins, laid out in rows on the floor, include two painted white for two children killed.
“Don’t be afraid to bewail your suffering, we have seen so much suffering”. “Together we will rebuild our homes and churches, especially together will restore life to our communities, starting from our traditions and from the rubble of death”.
Italy has started to bury its dead following a devastating quake on Wednesday that killed at least 290 people and left whole towns in ruins.
Forestry police officer Valerio Checchi said he expected rescuers to shortly start using mechanical diggers to move debris in a sign virtually all hope of finding survivors has gone.
Relatives of the dead sat alongside flower-covered coffins, some draping themselves across them and sobbing inconsolably.
“We share the sufferings of the people of Myanmar and express our admiration for the remarkable rescue and recovery efforts in the affected areas and extend our best wishes of complete success,”he said”.
Moroccan diplomatic sources confirmed this information to MAP, adding that this young Moroccan mechanic, who lives in Amatrice, one of the most devastated towns by the quake, is “currently being treated for minor injuries at a hospital but his condition is not worrying”. “It’s necessary because even if they didn’t make it, they must be returned to their families”.
The prime minister, Matteo Renzi, declared a state of emergency, authorised an initial €50m (£43m) in aid, and cancelled residents’ taxes.
Six Romanians, three Britons, a Spanish woman, a Canadian and an Albanian also died in the calamity.
Authorities have released the names of 181 victims.
Across the area, a cool retreat for those seeking to escape Italy’s hot summers, numerous dead were children and elderly people, some of them visiting grandparents before school resumed.
Renzi has promised to rebuild the shattered communities and the mayor of Amatrice urged the government to learn the lessons of painfully slow post-quake reconstructions of the past.
Residents of an Italian region devastated by an quake were rattled by a series of aftershocks overnight, the strongest measuring 4.2, as Italy began a day of national mourning on Saturday.
On Saturday morning, Mattarella toured Amatrice, a town devastated in the natural disaster that has the highest death toll.
Sorry we didn’t make it in time. “It is a great opportunity for politicians to show extraordinary commitment”, the town’s mayor, Sergio Pirozzi told the president at the funeral.
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Italy’s government has been criticised for failing to prevent deaths after the 2009 natural disaster in nearby L’Aquila left 300 dead.
