{"id":243402,"date":"2016-08-27T11:34:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-27T11:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=243402"},"modified":"2016-08-27T11:34:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-27T11:34:00","slug":"italy-earthquake-mass-funeral-for-35-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/italy-earthquake-mass-funeral-for-35-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy earthquake: Mass funeral for 35 victims"},"content":{"rendered":"
A mass funeral has taken place in Italy for some of the 290 people killed in Wednesday’s powerful earthquake.<\/p>\n
Thirty-five victims from the town of Arquata were mourned at a sports hall in the regional capital, Ascoli Piceno.<\/p>\n
The coffins, laid out in rows on the floor, include two painted white for two children killed.<\/p>\n
The death toll from the quake, which struck a mountainous central region, has again risen as more bodies were found.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was among those attending the funeral along with President Sergio Mattarella, who earlier visited Amatrice, the town with the most casualties.<\/p>\n
Bishop Giovanni d’Ercole urged those affected not to lose courage.<\/p>\n
“Together, above all we will restore life to our communities, starting from our traditions and from the rubble of death,” he said.<\/p>\n
Most victims of the earthquake were Italian, but several foreigners were among those killed, including three Britons.<\/p>\n
Rescue efforts have been hampered by hundreds of aftershocks, with one severely damaging a key bridge into Amatrice.<\/p>\n
“Let’s hope it doesn’t collapse or the town will be cut off from both sides,” said Mayor Sergio Pirozzi.<\/p>\n
More aftershocks were registered in the early hours of Saturday, one with a magnitude of four.<\/p>\n
The ground beneath Accumoli, another severely affected village, sank 20cm (8in) as a result of the earthquake, satellite images obtained by Italy’s scientific authorities show.<\/p>\n
The district which sank is shown in red on this image compiled from data from a Japanese satellite and published by Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).<\/p>\n