Bells tolled in hilltowns across central Italy today as the first funerals got underway for victims of the country’s devastating earthquake. The Vatican granted a dispensation so a funeral Mass for most of the 275 dead could be celebrated on Good Friday.
As more bodies were pulled from the rubble, some of the 28,000 homeless spent another day lining up for food and water at some of the 20 tent camps that have sprouted up around this quake-devastated city.
Pope Benedict XVI said he would visit the area soon.
Rescue efforts continued for the 15 people still missing, but officials began discussing rebuilding the stricken region and reopening schools. They stressed it would take a month or two to have a clear idea of the extent of the damage.
“For now the needs are basic. The people in the camps, they don’t have toothbrushes, they don’t have toothpaste,” said Massimo Cialente, mayor of the hard-hit city of L’Aquila. “You can’t find a place to buy cigarettes or get a coffee.”
The magnitude-6.3 quake hit L’Aquila and several towns covering 230 square miles (600 square kilometers) in central Italy early Monday, leveling buildings and reducing entire blocks to piles of rubble. It was the worst quake to hit Italy in three decades.
The death toll stood at 275, six of whom hadn’t been identified. Sixteen of the dead were children, Premier Silvio Berlusconi said.
Of the injured, 100 remained in serious condition, he said.
