South Korea’s vice foreign minister will visit the Italian Embassy in Seoul Tuesday to offer his condolences to the victims of the 6.2-magnitude quake that rocked the European country last week, the ministry said. “ASTA stands ready to assist our 44 ASTA members who are based in Italy any way we can, and have also activated our network of Volunteer Responders who are ready provide logistical support for anyone affected by the quake”.
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Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam plans to express his condolences for the natural disaster victims during his visit to the Italian mission in the afternoon, according to the ministry.
Relatives and friends gathered around the caskets, including those of two small children, which were carried into the tent in pouring rain after a summer storm broke over Amatrice, the worst-hit town from the August 24 quake.
The names of the victims were read out Tuesday at the start of the Italian state funeral in the town hardest hit by the quake.
Amatrice residents had threatened to boycott Tuesday’s funeral service, as it was originally scheduled to be held at an airport hangar in the city of Rienti, which is located 60 km (37 miles) away.
Italy’s government has discussed post-earthquake reconstruction plans with the architect behind the Shard, it has emerged. Relatives placed bouquets on the caskets and sat next to them quietly.
Of the 292 confirmed dead, 231 were found in Amatrice, which was left in ruins. Premier Matteo Renzi and President Sergio Mattarella were on hand for the Mass being celebrated by local bishops. They and others have been claimed by relatives and buried elsewhere or are awaiting private funeral services.
Romania’s prime minister is traveling to Italy for the state funeral for victims of the quake and to comfort the families of 11 Romanians who died in it.
Last year, an estimated 1.3 million Romanians were living in Italy.
A victim is carried on a stretcher from a collapsed building after an quake, in Amatrice, central Italy, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016.
A large state funeral is scheduled to take place in Amatrice on Tuesday for numerous more than 240 people who died in the town.
A separate state funeral, for 35 victims from other towns, was held on Saturday in Ascoli Piceno, a town unscathed by the quake. The funeral will be held at the edge of Amatrice’s obliterated medieval town center, on the grounds of a Catholic retreat home for elderly and others seeking a quiet respite in the mountains.
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Italy also observed a second day of national mourning following the August 24 quake that flattened villages in central Italy.
