Italy holds mass funeral as search for bodies continues

Dozens of coffins were laid out in a marquee on Tuesday ahead of a state funeral for some of the victims of an earthquake which levelled communities in central Italy last week, killing at least 292 people.Relatives and friends gathered around the 38 caskets, including those of two small children, which were carried into the tent in pouring rain after a summer storm broke over Amatrice, the worst-hit town from the August 24 quake.Builders worked through the night hurriedly preparing the funeral site after furious locals warned they would boycott the event when they found out that the authorities planned to hold it in the city of Rieti, more than 60 km away.The bodies were originally taken to Rieti and officials said it would be easier to hold a mass funeral there rather than in the devastated Amatrice, but Prime Minister Matteo Renzi ordered a change of plan in the face of the local anger.In the centre of Amatrice, which was voted last year one Italy's most beautiful, crews continued to dig for bodies under mounds of rubble left by the 6.2 magnitude quake."There are families which have been destroyed. We must give them hope," said Don Sante Bertarelli, who was a priest in Amatrice for 15 years and returned to help comfort his former parishioners after the disaster.Of the 292 confirmed dead, 231 were found in Amatrice.Mourners pay their respects.A number of foreigners were among the dead, including 11 Romanians and three Britons.Renzi, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos were expected to attend the funeral, which was set to start at 6 pm, the Civil Protection Agency said.Many of those who died in Amatrice were not residents and their funerals are being held in their hometowns.A fireman used a rope to hoist a wooden statue of Christ borrowed from a nearby church above a makeshift altar for Tuesdaytarget="_blank"'>Almost 30 people died in earthquakes in northern Italy in 2012 and more than 300 in the city of L'Aquila in 2009.