Italy Holds Mass State Funeral For Earthquake Victims

Italy has held an emotionally charged funeral for dozens of its earthquake victims as the country observes a national day of of mourning for the disaster that killed 290 people and wounded hundreds more.

The Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, the prime minister, Matteo Renzi, and other leaders were among hundreds who sat solemnly behind 35 coffins in a sports hall in Ascoli Piceno on Saturday to mourn the dead. Hundreds more stood silently outside as the sombre proceedings of the mass was relayed to them by loudspeakers.

The hall in the capital of the Marche region had been converted temporarily into a place of worship for the funeral of most of the people who died in the villages of Arquata del Tronto and Pescara del Tronto in the region’s mountainous interior.

Relatives of the dead sat alongside the flower-decked coffins, some draping themselves across them and crying, as Giovanni D’Ercole, the bishop of Ascoli, implored them not to lose faith.

“Don’t be afraid to scream your suffering, but do not lose courage,” the bishop said. “Together we will rebuild our houses and churches, together above all, we will give life back to our communities ... the village bells will ring once more.”

Among the coffins was a small, white casket for nine-year-old Giulia Rinaldo, whose body protected her younger sister, Giorgia, for long enough to allow the five-year-old to be pulled from the rubble virtually unscathed. Giorgia was one of the last survivors to be rescued and there have been no reports of anyone else being found alive since late Wednesday, some hours after the earthquake originally struck.

A note on Giulia’s coffin read: “Ciao little one. Sorry that we arrived too late.” It had apparently been left by one of the workers involved in the rescue operation.

“Giulia died but she was found in a position protecting Giorgia ... life and death came face to face and for Giorgia, life won,” the bishop said.

Earlier on Saturday, Mattarella paid tribute to the “extraordinary effort” of more than 4,000 rescue workers and volunteers on a brief visit to Amatrice, the hilltop town hit hardest by the quake.

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The Italian civil protection agency said the death toll from the quake had risen after three bodies were recovered overnight from the rubble of Amatrice, the site of 224 of the total number of deaths, including those of three Britons.

Mattarella was shown the extent of the damage by the mayor, Sergio Pirozzi. The president was taken only to the edge of the medieval town because the centre was deemed too dangerous.

While there is little hope of finding any more survivors, the head of the civil protection agency, Immacolata Postiglione, said the search would continue. “I confirm once again, as we have from the start, that the units doing the searches and rescues, including with dogs, are absolutely fully active,” she said on Friday.