State funeral set for Amatrice after quake survivors rebel

Rick Owen
00:49, Aug 31, 2016
Copyright 2015 All rights reserved. This material can't be published, transferred, copied or redistributed.
Copyright 2015 All rights reserved. This material can't be published, transferred, copied or redistributed.

In the centre of Amatrice, which was voted previous year one Italy's most attractive, crews continued to dig for bodies under mounds of rubble left by the 6.2 magnitude quake.

A mourner cries next to a coffin prior to the funeral for victims of the natural disaster that leveled the town in Amatrice, central Italy August 30, 2016.

Italy's government has heeded the anger of quake survivors and will hold a state funeral for numerous 290 dead in Amatrice, the town hardest-hit by the quake, instead of at an airport hangar 65 kilometers (40 miles) away.

Initially, authorities planned to hold the funeral in the provincial capital of Rieti - some distance from the earthquake-hit area - and let survivors watch it on television.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and President Sergio Mattarella attended an evening service on Tuesday in Amatrice to honor those who lost their lives in last week's deadly quake.

Leading the service at St Andrew's Cathedral attended by more than 500 the Archbishop pointed to the waves of Italian immigrants who have arrived in Scotland since the last 19th century and whose descendants are now dotted across Scotland.

Italy is holding a state funeral late Tuesday for more than 200 of the 292 victims on the grounds of a Catholic retreat at the edge of Amatrice's obliterated medieval center.

Civil protection officials said only 37 caskets were on hand since many families opted for private funerals elsewhere.

There were 50 people killed in Le Marche.

HC allows women's entry in Haji Ali dargah's
Friday's order is being seen as a big boost for other campaigns to allow women entry into other places of worship. The trust contended that the ban was "for the safety and security of women".

A separate state funeral, for 35 victims from other towns, was held on Saturday in Ascoli Piceno, a town unscathed by the quake.

As Italy prepared to bid farewell to more victims, prosecutors worked to see if construction firms or others bore any possible responsibility for buildings that collapsed in the 4.2-magnitude quake.

Prosecutors are investigating why supposedly quake-proofed buildings collapsed in the August 24 tremors in one of the world's most seismically active countries.

Local bishops conducted the funeral mass at an alter using relics retrieved from damaged local churches - scenes of devastated, collapsed buildings behind them. Other buildings had been flagged as being at high risk and public funds set aside, but renovations were never done, Italian newspapers reported.

Romania's prime minister, Dacian Ciolos, was also present on Tuesday to pay his respects to the 11 Romanians who lost their lives.

For those who survived, Tuesday's funeral was only one step in tackling a long-term trauma.

"They're living through a blackout", said Letizia Bellabarba, a social worker who is tending to survivors.

"Most of them were crushed".

Copyright 2015 All rights reserved. This material can't be published, transferred, copied or redistributed.


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