Mass Funeral and Day of Mourning in Italy

by Rob Walker | April 10, 2009 at 05:05 am

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A massive state funeral for the victims of Monday's earthquake took place during a national day of mourning in Italy on Friday. The funeral took place as the death toll reached 289 people, with 205 wooden coffins laid out in L'Aquila, which took the brunt of the damage.

About 2,000 mourners were expected to attend prayer services in L'Aquila on Friday, led by the Vatican's second-highest official. The Vatican granted a special dispensation to hold a Mass on Good Friday, which is not normally permitted.

You can find further stories and information at our L'Aquila Earthquake page here.

The death toll from Monday's disaster has reached 287, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi 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.

As the service began under partly cloudy skies in a vast parade ground, there were 205 coffins laid out in the vast square, brown for adults and white for children. Most were covered with wreaths of flowers.

Rescuers extended the search for anyone missing in the rubble until Sunday, but experts believe the chances of finding anyone alive are remote. The majority of their time will be spent finding bodies and determining the extent of damage.

Aftershocks are continuing to hamper rescue efforts. On Thursday evening a tremor measuring 4.9, the fourth-largest since the earthquake, brought down a badly damaged four-storey building in the centre of L'Aquila.
The death toll was raised to 289 on Friday morning.