Italy buries quake dead, recalls sisters embracing in rubble

In the central town of Ascoli Piceno, they gathered to bid farewell to 35 of the 291 people confirmed dead so far after the quake that struck a swath of countryside early Wednesday at the foothills of the central Apennine mountains.

The caskets of 35 people had been brought to a community gym one of the few structures in the area still intact and large enough to hold hundreds of mourners.

The local bishop, Giovanni D'Ercole, celebrated Mass beneath a crucifix he had retrieved from one of the damaged churches in the picturesque area of medieval stone towns and hamlets.

Emotions that had been dammed up for days broke in a crescendo of grief. One young man wept over a little girl's white coffin. Another woman gently stroked another small casket.

Many mourners were recovering from injuries themselves, some wrapped in bandages. Everywhere people knelt at coffins, tears running down their cheeks, their arms around loved ones.

"It is a great tragedy. There are no words to describe it," said Gina Razzetti, a resident at the funeral.

"Each one of us has our pain inside. We are thinking about the families who lost relatives, who lost their homes, who lost everything." 

As all of Italy observed a day of national mourning, with flags at half-staff, Bishop D'Ercole urged residents to rebuild their communities.

"Don't be afraid to cry out your suffering I have seen a lot of this but please do not lose courage," D'Ercole said in his homily. "Only together can we rebuild our houses and our churches. Together, above all, we will be able to restore life to our communities." 

President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Matteo Renzi joined grieving family members, stopping to speak to some of them.

When the caskets were brought out of the gym, the mourners applauded, a traditional Italian way of honoring people who die in tragedy.

The bishop recalled the heartbreaking story of 9-year-old Giulia Rinaldo, whose embrace apparently allowed her younger sister Giorgia to survive.

He said 15 hours after the quake struck Wednesday, he returned to the church in Pescara Del Tronto to recover its crucifix. Close by, firefighters were using their hands to dig out the two sisters.