Italian authorities are pondering how to provide warmer, less temporary housing for quake homeless living in ten.
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The two are a Romanian man and woman and both were arrested while officers riding motorcycles were on duty to navigate rubble-strewn streets.
Both were driving a vehicle with German plates.
Some 500 people took part in the initiative which served up the local speciality pasta and sauce, which hails from the town of Amatrice badly hit by the quake.
According to the police, the pair is in their 40s and are alleged to have stolen about 300 euros cash, clothing and other items.
Numerous survivors have been left homeless and are sleeping in tents or their cars.
The bodies of some 10 people, including that of the town’s baker, are believed to be still buried under the rubble of hundreds of buildings that collapsed, many reduced to piles of stones.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi promised on Monday to present a national plan to make Italy safer against earthquakes as rescuers continued to search for bodies after last week’s quake that killed at least 292 people.
Amatrice Mayor Sergio Pirozzi told a crowd that Renzi had just spoken with him by phone.
Construction crews worked through the night to build a tent complex to host an Italian state funeral Tuesday in quake-devastated Amatrice after outraged residents rejected the government’s plan to hold the service in a distant airport hangar.
One relative of 7-year-old twins who perished in central Italy’s August 24 quake was so upset by the announcement he could barely speak, holding up seven fingers when explaining how old the children were. It says the seven are the first batch to be brought back, and others may also be as well, depending on their families’ wishes. With thousands left homeless after Italy’s natural disaster, authorities are debating how to provide warm.
Almost 2,700 quake survivors needing shelter have been staying in 58 tent camps or at other shelters arranged by Italy’s Civil Protection agency. Others are staying in a gym in the hardest-hit town, Amatrice and some are sleeping in cars near their damaged homes.
He said he had already discussed the new plan with Italian architect Renzo Piano who told him it may take two generations – or around 50 years – to bring Italy up to the best worldwide safety standards.
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No long-term housing decisions have been announced yet.
