Italy earthquake: More bodies located beneath rubble, investigation launched

Rescuers believe they have located more bodies in the ruined town of Amatrice, five days after a devastating tremor struck central Italy, killing at least 290 people.

Nine more bodies were recovered from the town on Saturday, including three overnight from the crumpled Hotel Roma, bringing the death toll in Amatrice alone to 230 residents and tourists. Residents of the hill town said up to 10 people were still missing.

“I am certain there is one more person (in the hotel), because it is my uncle … It is absolutely vital to finish as soon as possible this initial (search) phase to make sure that there are no more bodies under the rubble,” said Deputy Mayor Gianluca Carloni.

The Civil Protection Department lowered the official death toll on Sunday to 290 from a previously given 291. A number of foreigners were among the dead, including 11 Romanians, the foreign ministry in Bucharest said.

Many Romanians work in Italy and Bucharest said 14 of its nationals were still unaccounted for.

Authorities said 387 people were still in hospital, with one patient dying of his injuries during the day.

Authorities have released the names of 181 victims. The youngest was five months old, the oldest 93.

Most of the buildings in the quake zone had no anti-seismic protection, but even some of those that did, including a school in Amatrice that was renovated in 2012, fell apart.

Magistrates have opened an investigation on whether companies ignored anti-seismic regulations when restoring public buildings, such as a school in Amatrice that was reduced to rubble in last week’s earthquake.

“Everyone suspects such a tragedy was not just a question of destiny,” said Giuseppe Saieva, chief prosecutor in the provincial capital of Rieti, north of Rome, who is heading the investigation. “Our duty is to verify if there was also responsibility, human culpability.”

A major focus of the judicial inquiry is the Romolo Capranica primary school in Amatrice, the town devastated in Wednesday’s 6.2-magnitude quake where 224 people died out of the total toll of 291.

Italy held a day of national mourning on Saturday for the 290 victims of the earthquake. In Ascoli Piceno, an emotional funeral was held for dozens of local victims. The president, Sergio Mattarella, the prime minister, Matteo Renzi, and other leaders were among the hundreds who filled a sports hall to mourn the dead. The mass was relayed by loudspeakers to many more assembled outside the hall.

Among the 35 coffins laid out in a sports hall were small caskets holding the bodies of an 18-month-old baby and a nine-year-old girl, two of the 21 children who are known to have died when the quake hit central Italy early on Wednesday.

“Don't be afraid to bewail your suffering, we have seen so much suffering. But I ask you not to lose your courage,” Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole said in a homily in the hall, which was packed with grieving families and top politicians.

“Only together can we rebuild our houses and churches. Above all, together we can give life back to our communities,” he said, speaking in front of a dusty crucifix salvaged from one of the dozens of churches devastated by the quake.

Museums to donate proceeds in solidarity

Meanwhile museums across Italy will donate proceeds from Sunday's ticket sales to help the rebuilding effort and football teams will hold a minute's silence before their weekend matches out of respect for the victims.

Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said 293 culturally important sites in the area affected, many of them churches, had either collapsed or been seriously damaged.

He urged Italians to go out in force on Sunday to visit museums and archaeological sites “in a concrete sign of solidarity” with quake victims, who would be supported by the money raised

Italy has promised to rebuild the shattered communities and has said it will learn from the mistakes of the reconstruction following a similar earthquake in the nearby city of L'Aquila in 2009, where much of the centre is still out of bounds.

“The government isn't going to tell you what should be done. You will decide what needs doing,” Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told relatives of the dead on Saturday at a state funeral for 35 of the victims.