A day of mourning was observed in Italy on Saturday, as the Italian government held a state funeral for scores of people killed in a magnitude 6.2 natural disaster that rocked the central part of the European country earlier in the week.
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But with so much of Italy quake-prone, Piano said a master, long-term reconstruction and building plan must be devised for the entire nation.
Despite this the authorities say they will continue the search until they are certain no-one is unaccounted for.
A tombstone is heaped up with rubbles of the St. Angelo’s cemetery, in central Italy, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016, where graves were cracked after a major quake hit the region on Wednesday.
Before Saturday’s mass funeral, the president visited Amatrice, the town that bore the brunt of destruction with 230 fatalities. He asked for his full name to be withheld because he had recently renovated his property.
Countless more who fled damaged homes – or even the ones without any heavy damage – went to stay with relatives in Rome and other Italian cities.
“If you moved a partition, you risk being charged with manslaughter”, he argued.
But he also said that it was “absurd” to think that Italy could build completely quake-proof buildings.
The sun sets behind collapsed houses in the village of Santi Lorenzo e Flaviano, central Italy, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2016.
Many children and elderly people were killed. The Italian government also declared Saturday a day of national mourning and scheduled a state funeral to be attended by President Sergio Mattarella.
On the top of the coffins were flowers and photographs of those who lost their lives.
Amatrice mayor Sergio Pirozzi told Mr Mattarella: “What we need is a reconstruction in record time”.
A man cries after a funeral service for victims of the quake inside a gym in Ascoli Piceno, Italy on Saturday.
A state funeral was held today for 35 of the victims, majority from one town.
Mourners who packed the sweltering sports hall included many injured in the quake. He urged the mourners, who wept and held each other, to find courage to rebuild their homes and communities.
More than 200 people died in Amatrice alone, with Arquata, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto also hard-hit. “Together, above all, we will be able to restore life to our communities”.
As the bishop spoke, numerous relatives of the dead cried quietly. Another woman gently stroked another small casket.
The caskets of 35 people had been brought to a community gym – one of the few structures in the area still intact and large enough to hold hundreds of mourners. “There are no words to describe it”, said Gina Razzetti, a town resident who joined hundreds of local people for the funeral.
She added: “These things should not happen”. Prosecutor Giuseppe Saieva, based in the nearby provincial capital of Rieti, said the high human death toll “cannot only be considered the work of fate”.
Italy sits on two faultlines, making it one of the most seismically active countries in Europe.
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Italian authorities have opened investigations into the massive destruction wrought by the latest quake, seeking to determine if anyone bears criminal guilt for failing to ensure building safety standards in the seismically risky area. “I believe this is the model to aim for, even, to limit the burden on the state”, he maintained.
