“They always say the same thing – that they stand with us and that it must never happen again. always the same thing!” said one inconsolable woman after identifying a relative in Amatrice. “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”.
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The death toll in the worst-hit town Amatrice was 230, while the number of victims in Accumoli and Arquato del Tronto were 11 and 50 respectively, Xinhua reported.
The death toll is now at 290, but there are fears that it will rise as many are still unaccounted for.
The cocker spaniel was filmed in a gym containing dozens of victims in the town of Ascoli Piceno. Giorgia, whose fourth birthday was on Saturday survived against all the odds, one of the last to be pulled alive from the rubble.
On her sister Giulia’s coffin a little note had been left that stated: “Ciao little one”. She is now recovering in hospital next door to the gym where the funerals took place. Some of the mourners clutched framed photos of their loved ones.
ASCOLI PICENO, ITALY-A young man wept over a little girl’s white coffin, while a woman nearby gently stroked another small casket, as Italians bid farewell Saturday to victims of the devastating natural disaster that struck a mountainous region of central Italy this week.
Outside the packed sports hall, hundreds of locals came to pay their respects.
The national mourning will include a state funeral for some of the victims in Ascoli Piceno to be attended by Premier Matteo Renzi and President Sergio Mattarella.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, centre, and his wife Agnese are seen after a funeral service.
Most victims of the quake were Italians, but several foreigners were among those killed, including three Britons.
Further funerals will be held in the coming days, including in the capital Rome, where nearly 50 of the dead came from.
Authorities have released the names of 181 victims.
Questions also surround a bell tower in Accumoli that collapsed, killing a family of four sleeping in a neighboring house, including a baby of 8 months and a 7-year-old boy.
An Italian army soldier walks past rubble in Villa San Lorenzo, near Amatrice, central Italy, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016 where a 6.1 quake struck just after 3:30 a.m., Wednesday. The school was inaugurated in 2012 after being rebuilt by a consortium of builders, Valori Scarl, which won a contract from Amatrice town council for €700,000 (£596,552) to implement anti-earthquake safety standards in the school buildings, according to judicial sources.
She said the service was held in a gymnasium, where 35 caskets were laid out.
Mourners pay their respects as they attend a funeral for the quake victims inside a gym in Ascoli Piceno August 27, 2016. He urged mourners to rebuild their communities.
“What we need is a reconstruction in record time”.
Mattarella arrived by helicopter at the edge of Amatrice, a once-picturesque stone town.
More than 920 aftershocks have hit the area since the original 6.2 magnitude quake struck early Wednesday. The Italian geological institute said more than 1,350 aftershocks had hit Italy’s central mountains since Wednesday’s pre-dawn 6.2-magnitude quake.
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Italy sits on two fault lines, making it one of the most seismically active countries in Europe. Once that is over, the government and local authorities will face intense scrutiny over why so many people died, just seven years after an natural disaster in the nearby city of L’Aquila left more than 300 people dead.
