ITALIANS AND the Italian state yesterday paid tribute to the 289 people who lost their lives in Monday’s devastating earthquake in and around the Abruzzo capital of L’Aquila with a moving state funeral.
Italian state president Giorgio Napolitano and prime minister Silvio Berlusconi led the mourning at a full requiem Mass presided over by Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
State television and radio and various commercial broadcasters carried the almost two-hour service live as Italy stopped to honour Monday’s dead with a national day of mourning. On a beautiful, sunny morning, against the background of the handsome, snow-covered Abruzzo hills, more than 2,500 mourners gathered in the courtyard of the Finance Police Inspectors’ barracks, just outside L’Aquila.
The service began with a message from Pope Benedict XVI, read by his private secretary, Georg Gäenswein: “In these dramatic hours when an immense tragedy has hit your land, I feel myself spiritually present amongst all of you and I share your angst. I implore God that he might grant eternal rest to the victims, a prompt recovery for the injured and the courage for everyone to continue to hope without giving way to despair.”
The pope is expected to visit L’Aquila in the coming weeks.
Before the service began, Mr Berlusconi broke away from his escort and left the VIP section to sit among the mourners. As he walked among some of those who had lost loved ones, a number of people grabbed his hands, imploring him for help. Later in the day, at a news conference, the prime minister described the experience as “harrowing”.
“This morning I experienced a lot of pain. I recalled all the terrible stories that I’ve heard from people these days. The procession of coffins was truly terrible. I met a woman this morning who wants to kill herself because she lost her daughter and blames herself for having sent her to study here in L’Aquila.”
Throughout the Mass, the prime minister appeared genuinely upset by the tangible suffering around him. Later during his news conference, he reiterated his government’s willingness to look after those hit by the earthquake. “In front of those coffins, I promised that the government will assume its responsibility to bring aid to those who have been struck by this tragedy. Nobody will be abandoned.”
As L’Aquila continues to be shaken by aftershocks – there have been more than 800 of them since last Monday – Mr Berlusconi acknowledged that it would take years for L’Aquila to heal its wounds and repair the huge damage caused by the earthquake, especially in the old city. However, he expressed optimism that many private houses in the suburbs of L’Aquila and in the surrounding villages could be quickly repaired.
The prime minister, who was in L’Aquila for the fourth time in five days and who said that he will return again tomorrow, also touched on one of the great controversies prompted by this tragedy, namely the poor quality construction that caused so many buildings to collapse. A former construction tycoon himself, Mr Berlusconi said: “All the houses that collapsed, and not just old houses, were built without regard for anti-seismic criteria. Among the ruined buildings, there were houses built in the 1970s and 1980s, built with cement that we don’t use any more, with iron that we don’t use these days and without any binding mechanisms, but rather using the techniques of the day.”
As the official death toll rose to 289, rescue work continued in and around L’Aquila last night.
Sniffer dogs may have identified someone still alive under the rubble of a house in Via D’Annunzio. Alerted by the dogs, one fireman turned his sonar tracking equipment on the rubble, appearing to hear two distinctive knocks from below.
Earlier this week, the Protezione Civile authorities said the rescue digging should go on for at least six days, pointing out that survivors from last year’s earthquake in China were found four and five days after the original earthquake.