Families grieve as state funeral held for victims of powerful quake in Ascoli Piceno
Families of the magnitude 6.2 quake was weeping as the Italian government held a state funeral for some of the almost 300 people who died in three days.
Thirty five victims were included in the state funeral held in the city of Ascoli Piceno where their coffins were laid out in a sports hall.
One of the children’s coffins held the body of Giulia Rinaldo, whose younger sister survived the earthquake because she was under Giulia’s body.
These victims were from the town of Arquata.
Amose those who attended the funeral were Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, along with President Sergio Mattarella, who earlier visited Amatrice. Mattarella flew to Amatrice by helicopter on Saturday to see the damage for himself before he travelled to the nearby city of Ascoli Piceno for the funeral.
Some of the small caskets were holding the bodies of an 18-month-old baby and a nine-year-old girl. They were among the 21 children who are known to have died when the quake hit central Italy early on Wednesday.
Bishop Giovanni d’Ercole urged those affected not to lose courage in facing the tragedy.
“Don’t be afraid to bewail your suffering, we have seen so much suffering. But I ask you not to lose your courage,” Bishop D’Ercole said in a homily in the hall, which was packed with grieving families and the nation’s top politicians.
“Only together can we rebuild our houses and churches. Above all, together we can give life back to our communities,” he said, speaking in front of a dusty crucifix salvaged from one of dozens of churches devastated by the quake.
On Saturday, the Italian authorities released the names of 181 victims of the quake. Among them, the youngest was five months old baby, while the oldest is 93 years old.
Included in those who were killed were six Romanians, three Britons, a Spanish woman, a Canadian and an Albanian. The area is famous with vacationers from other countries and authorities are still struggling to pin down how many visitors were there when the quake hit.
While the funeral Mass was being held, rescuers are still searching through the debris of the worst hit town, Amatrice, although they knew they had little hope of finding any more survivors. The quake on Wednesday is considered the Italy’s worst earthquake in seven years.