Italy mourns earthquake victims at state funeral

A state funeral for the victims of Italy's worst earthquake in three decades has been held as the death toll from Monday's disaster reached 287. Nearly 200 wooden coffins, many of them covered by bouquets of flowers and photos of the dead, were laid out in four rows on the parade ground of a police academy in L'Aquila, the worst hit by Monday's 6.3 magnitude quake. Relatives of the victims arrived from early in the morning for the funeral, some kissing the coffins or sitting before them in silent prayer. Several small white caskets, containing the bodies of children, sat on top of their mothers' coffins. Piero Faro, who came to pay his respects to family friend Paola Pugliesi, 65, who died with her son Giuseppe, 45, said: "There is a lot of sadness today, but also a lot of anger. Their building simply disintegrated. This should not have happened." Rescue efforts were drawing to an end as hopes faded of pulling more survivors from the rubble. "The search is almost over," said Luca Spoletini, spokesman for the Civil Protection agency, which is coordinating Italy's response to the crisis. Violent aftershocks continued through the night in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, damaging buildings in medieval towns and terrifying the 17,000 people living in tent villages. Thousands more survivors are being put up in hotels. The government declared a national day of mourning. Flags were flown at half mast and in Rome many shops and businesses displayed signs saying they would close during the funeral.

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ITN | April 10, 2009

Tags:. .italian. .laquila. .disintegrated. .aftershocks. .abruzzo