Italy weeps for earthquake dead
at a gymnasium arranged in a chapel of rest on August 27,
2016, in Ascoli Piceno, three days after a 6.2-magnitude
earthquake struck the region killing some 281 people. Flags
flew at half mast across Italy on August 27, 2016 as the
country observed a day of mourning for the victims of an
earthquake that killed nearly 300 people. President Sergio
Mattarella paid tribute to the “extraordinary effort” of more
than 4,000 rescue experts and volunteers as he began what
was set to be an emotionally charged day with a brief visit to
Amatrice, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of
Rome.The small mountain town suffered the heaviest losses
in the disaster with around two thirds of the quake’s 284
confirmed victims buried under tonnes of collapsed masonry
in its devastated centre. PHOTO: ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP
Italy held a tear-drenched funeral Saturday for
dozens of its earthquake victims as the country
observed a day of mourning over a disaster that
killed nearly 300 people.
President Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Matteo
Renzi and other leaders were among hundreds of
mourners who sat solemnly behind 35 coffins in a
sports hall in Ascoli Piceno.
The hall in the capital of the Marche region had
been converted temporarily to a place of worship
for the funeral of most of the people who perished
in the villages of Arquata del Tronto and Pescara
del Tronto in the region’s mountainous interior.
Hundreds more stood silently outside, the sombre
proceedings of the mass relayed to them by
loudspeakers.
Relatives of the dead sat alongside the flower-
bedecked coffins, some draping themselves across
them and sobbing inconsolably, three days after the
deadly earthquake struck before dawn.
Others hugged each other tight 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,” he 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, whose body protected her
younger sister, Giorgia, for long enough for 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.
On her sister Giulia’s coffin a little note had been
left that stated: “Ciao little one. Sorry that we
arrived too late.” It had apparently been left by one
of the workers involved in the rescue operation.
– More bodies found –
“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.
Mattarella, Italy’s head of state, had earlier paid
tribute to the “extraordinary effort” of more than
4,000 rescue professionals and volunteers on a brief
visit to Amatrice, the small mountain town hit
hardest by the quake.
Some 230 of the quake’s 290 confirmed victims were
buried under tonnes of collapsed masonry in the
popular beauty spot’s devastated centre.
Three more bodies were plucked from the town’s
Hotel Roma overnight and there are fears there are
still more bodies to be recovered.
Amatrice was packed with visitors when the
powerful quake struck in the early hours of
Wednesday.
Nearly 400 people have been hospitalised since then,
some of them with life-threatening injuries.
Emergency services are more confident that they
have accounted for everyone in the smaller outlying
hamlets to the north of Amatrice — some of which
have been so badly damaged there are doubts as to
whether they will ever be inhabited again.
“Saletta will disappear like so many tiny places,”
predicted Marco Beltrame. The 28-year-old lost his
aunt and uncle when the quake struck their one-
street hamlet.
The first grieving families to bury their dead did so
on Friday evening in Pomezia.
There were also tearful scenes there as hundreds of
residents of the small town south of Rome turned
out to pay their respects to lost relatives, friends
and neighbours who included an eight-year-old
boy.
– 1,300 aftershocks –
A large number of the victims were from the Rome
area, where many former inhabitants of the
mountains have moved for work, returning to
family homes only at the height of summer.
At least 16 foreigners died: 10 Romanians, three
Britons and one each from Canada, El Salvador and
Spain.
Sixteen Romanians are unaccounted for, the foreign
ministry in Bucharest said Saturday.
With emotions still raw, some families chose not to
take up the offer of state funerals.
“Why attend? To listen to politicians? 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.
The government has pledged to support immediate
reconstruction.
But the clear-up operation needed first has been
hampered by powerful aftershocks — more than
1,300 since Wednesday — which have closed
winding mountain roads, damaged key bridges and
made life dangerous for exhausted emergency
services.
Renzi has declared a state of emergency for the
regions affected, releasing an initial tranche of 50
million euros ($56 million) in emergency aid.
The total rebuilding operation is forecast to cost
over a billion euros.
Another major commemoration service has been
scheduled for Wednesday in Amatrice. Once that is
over, the government and local authorities will face
intense scrutiny over why so many people died, just
seven years after an earthquake in the nearby city
of L’Aquila left more than 300 people dead.
That disaster, just 50 kilometres (30 miles) to the
south, underscored the region’s vulnerability to
seismic events — but preparations for a fresh quake
have been partial at best.
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