At least nine people were wounded, including three children, after an explosion destroyed a town hall in the Roman suburb of Rocca di Papa on Monday, June 10, local media reported. The mayor of Rocca di Papa, Emanuele Crestini, was among those injured in the blast, according to reports. Vigili del Fuoco, Italy’s national fire service, said they believed the incident was a gas explosion. The explosion gutted the facade of the Rocca di Papa town hall and damaged a neighboring nursery school and another building that houses public offices. Credit: Vigili del Fuoco via Storyful </s> Ten people have been injured, including a child who is in critical condition, following an explosion caused by a gas leak in the centre of a small town near Rome.

The accident took place on Monday in Rocca di Papa, about 25 kilometres southeast of Rome and close to the pope's summer residence of Castel Gandolfo.

The child was seriously hurt but his life is not in danger, regional health commissioner Alessio D'Amato said in a statement, adding that he was admitted to hospital along with an adult, who has burn injuries.

Two more children were taken to hospital by their families while six adults were treated at the scene of the accident, the commissioner added.

The blast took place inside Rocca di Papa's town hall, partially destroying its facade and triggering a fire.

According to Italian media reports, mayor Emanuele Crestini was among the injured.

The children affected by the explosion were in a nursery school adjacent to the town hall, according to reports from the ANSA news agency.

Firefighters published a video on Twitter showing the street outside the town hall strewn with debris. No other victims were found among the rubble, they said.

In a statement, gas company Italgas blamed a third - unnamed - company for causing the explosion.

It said digging work outside the town hall had damaged underground gas pipes, provoking a leak. </s> Ha lottato dieci giorni nel reparto di terapia intensiva dell’ospedale Sant’Eugenio. Si è battuto come un leone, come aveva fatto la mattina del 10 giugno scorso quando nonostante le ustioni al volto e alle braccia è rimasto nel palazzo del Comune in fiamme e con il rischio che crollasse per portare fuori tutti gli impiegati rimasti bloccati. Era uscito per ultimo, come il comandante di una nave che affonda, il sindaco Emanuele Crestini dopo aver messo in salvo anche il suo delegato ai Servizi cimiteriali del comune di Rocca di Papa, Vincenzo Eleuteri, 68 anni, morto martedì scorso nello stesso ospedale. Nella tarda serata di giovedì anche il primo cittadino si è arreso. È morto per le ustioni e sopratutto per aver respirato troppo a lungo le particelle solide del fumo nero e acre provocato dell’incendio. Se fosse fuggito prima probabilmente sarebbe sopravvissuto. Ma, come Eleuteri, è restato dentro per salvare gli altri. A confermarlo ci sono le testimonianze di chi si trovava nel palazzo del Comune in corso Costituente letteralmente esploso per la fuga di gas causata da tre operai della ditta Tecnogeo di Frosinone che un’ora prima avevano rotto per errore una tubatura dell’Italgas. Il metano, seguendo un percorso sotterraneo che i vigili del fuoco stanno ancora accertando, forse favorito dal fatto che qualcuno ha infilato uno straccio nella falla per bloccarla in modo grossolano prima di allontanarsi dal posto, si è infilato nel seminterrato del palazzo che ospitava l’archivio del catasto e poi ha raggiunto tutti e quattro i piani con la tromba dell’ascensore. E alla fine è esploso: sedici feriti, fra loro anche quattro bambini piccoli del vicino asilo Centro Urbano. Ma i più gravi erano Crestini ed Eleuteri, con il 36 e il 44 per cento del corpo coperti da ustioni di secondo e terzo grado.

Morto nello stesso giorni in cui, 3 anni fa, fu eletto Per un tragico gioco del destino Crestini è morto lo stesso giorno in cui, tre anni fa, era stato eletto sindaco della cittadina dei Castelli con una lista civica, Insieme per Rocca di Papa, battendo di 2mila voti la candidata del Pd Silvia Sciamplicotti. L’anno scorso il sindaco era stato protagonista della vicenda del ricollocamento dei migranti della nave Diciotti nella comunità «Un Mondo Migliore» e aveva dovuto affrontare anche le tensioni legate a manifestazioni cittadine. «Adesso dobbiamo far uscire tutti», aveva detto Crestini dopo l’esplosione. Le indagini dei carabinieri e dei vigili del fuoco dovranno appurare dove si trovassero lui ed Eleuteri - ex dipendente Atac - nel momento dello scoppio. Probabilmente nei piani inferiori dove si sentiva un fortissimo odore di gas. Per un’ora - come ha accertato la procura di Velletri - nessuno ha pensato di evacuare l’edificio e dare l’allarme. Per la fuga di gas e la deflagrazione sono indagate tre persone prima per disastro colposo e lesioni gravissime in concorso, adesso probabilmente per anche per omicidio colposo plurimo. Si tratta del titolare della Tecnogeo, del fratello geologo che si trovava sul posto e di un altro geologo incaricato dal Comune di svolgere delle indagini nelle cavità del sottosuolo di Rocca di Papa.

Messaggi di cordoglio: «Hai amato questo paese fino alla morte» Centinaia i messaggi di cordoglio sui social da parte di amici e concittadini del sindaco scomparso. Alcuni di loro chiedono anche giustizia per quando accaduto. «Mi sento devastata nell’animo.E pensare che la domenica eravamo a pranzo insieme e che ci siamo sentiti fino all’una di notte, e poi la tragedia! Chi ha creato questa ondata di dolore paghi in eterno! Stanotte mi sento piccola piccola con tante domande alle quali non so dare risposta. Tu che hai portato a battessimo mio figlio,tu che in ogni avversità mi hai teso una mano, tu che ad ogni telefonata rispondevi anche a tarda notte, tu che hai amato questo paese fino alla morte. Il nostro non è un addio ma un arrivederci........buon viaggio amico mio».

Mattarella: «Esempio di coraggio e altruismo» «Ho appreso con profondo dolore la notizia della morte di Emanuele Crestini, sindaco di Rocca di Papa, deceduto a causa delle ustioni riportate per essersi adoperato, dopo l'esplosione nel palazzo del municipio, per portare in salvo tutte le persone che erano dentro i locali, dando un esempio di coraggio, di altruismo e di generosità nei confronti dei suoi concittadini». Così il presidente della Repubblica, Sergio Mattarella. «In questo momento di dolore - aggiunge - desidero far pervenire ai familiari del sindaco la mia solidarietà e partecipazione che esprimo anche ai familiari di Vincenzo Eleuteri, morto nei giorni scorsi in quella sciagura».

Salvini: «Un eroe: medaglia d’oro al valor civile» «Si è preoccupato di far uscire tutte le persone dal Comune in fiamme, ma il suo eroismo gli è costato la vita: il sindaco di Rocca di Papa ha lottato ma nella notte è morto proprio per il troppo fumo inalato. Un pensiero commosso alla sua famiglia e a quella dell’altro dipendente comunale Vincenzo Eleuteri, deceduto cinque giorni fa (il 16 giugno)». Lo ha detto il ministro dell’Interno, Matteo Salvini. «Per il sindaco Emanuele Crestini ritengo sia doverosa la medaglia d’oro al valor civile», ha concluso.

Il sindaco di Rocca di Papa Emanuele Crestini non ce l'ha fatta. Era rimasto ferito nell'esplosione del palazzo comunale. Una notizia davvero triste. @Roma abbraccia la sua famiglia e i suoi cittadini in questo momento di dolore. — Virginia Raggi (@virginiaraggi) 21 giugno 2019 </s> The death toll from violent rainstorms battering Italy has risen to nine, officials said Tuesday.

Most of the country’s northern region remains under a red alert after catastrophic rains and severe winds pounded much of the country, resulting in downed trees, tidal flooding, and thousands left without power.

Venice has been inundated by floodwaters — the worst seen in the Italian city for at least a decade.

On Monday, the water rose to more than five feet above sea level at high tide, bringing three-quarters of the canal city under water.

“The exceptional wave of bad weather leaves us with a dramatic toll: nine dead, four serious injuries and one person missing,” said Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.

The national fire brigade said it had intervened in 7,000 cases across the country and that one of its members died after being crushed by a tree during a rescue operation in a small town in the northeast Italian province of South Tyrol.

Authorities said Tuesday that a woman died in the north region of Trentino when her home was overcome by a mudslide and that a man was killed by a falling tree in the northeastern region of Veneto.

Two young people died in the south of Rome when a tree hit their car, and another person was killed in the nearby town of Terracina as winds brought down throngs of pine trees, according to CNN.

Among the victims, according to the news outlet, was a 21-year-old man who was struck by a falling tree while walking in Naples and a woman who died after being hit by debris blown off a building in the northern region of Liguria.

A man was also killed Monday while kite-surfing near the town of Cattolica on the Adriatic coast.

According to Italian media, nearly 200 people, tourists and hotel staff were stranded by heavy snowfall at Stelvio Pass, a mountain pass in northern Italy bordering Switzerland.

The weather was expected to improve Tuesday, “giving the country a truce,” according to an official from Italy’s Civil Protection Service.

Meanwhile, heavy snowfall in France has caused travel chaos and left hundreds of motorists stranded as winter arrived early on Monday.

Nearly 200,000 homes remained without power across the country Tuesday after snowstorms struck central regions Monday evening. </s> A strong aftershock has cut off a key route into the earthquake-stricken Italian town of Amatrice as the death toll from the earthquake rises further.

With the death toll now at 278, hope of finding more survivors is fading.

Photo: AFP

A road bridge on a main route into the town which had been used by emergency crews was badly damaged in the 4.7 magnitude aftershock, one of more than 1000.

Sniffer dogs and emergency crews were continuing to scour the town for survivors.

The initial earthquake struck regions east of Rome at 3.36am local time on Wednesday.

Officials said 181 of the victims had been identified, including at least 21 children.

The Italian government declared a day of national mourning, and has scheduled a state funeral ceremony for the victims.

On Friday the rescue operation in some of the stricken areas was called off.

"Only a miracle can bring our friends back alive from the rubble, but we are still digging because many are missing," Amatrice Mayor Sergio Pirozzi said.

"Amatrice will have to be razed to the ground," said Mr Pirozzi, who urged youngsters not to leave the area, saying that would mean the end of their community.

Photo: AFP

Some 218 of the 278 deaths were in Amatrice, where barely a single building was left unscathed.

The town was last year voted one of the most beautiful old towns in Italy and is famous for its local cuisine.

"No night can last so long that the sun never rises again. I am convinced that Amatrice will rise again. We owe it to the people who died here," Mr Pirozzi said

About 15 people, including children, had not been accounted for, he said.

Rescuers in some nearby villages, such as Pescara del Tronto, pulled out of the towns after all the inhabitants had been accounted for.

The civil protection department in Rome said 388 people were being treated for injuries in hospitals, and 40 of them were in critical condition.

An estimated 2500 people have been left homeless.

Survivors with nowhere else to go are sleeping in neat rows of blue tents set up close to their flattened communities.

The government promised to rebuild the region, but some local people fear that will never happen.

"I'm afraid our village and others like it will just die. Most people don't live here year round anyway. In the winter time the towns are virtually empty," said Salvatore Petrucci, 77, from the nearby hamlet of Trisunga.

"We may be the last ones to have lived in Trisunga."

The foreigners who died in the disaster included six Romanians, a Spanish woman, a Canadian and an Albanian. Three British holidaymakers, including a 14-year-old boy, also died.

The area is popular with tourists and local authorities were struggling to pin down how many visitors were present when the earthquake hit.

The Romanian foreign ministry said 17 Romanians were still missing. Italy has a large Romanian community, and some of the victims were Italian residents.

- Reuters </s> (CNN) — We’re only 20 weeks into 2018, and there have already been 22 school shootings where someone was hurt or killed. That averages out to more than 1 shooting a week.

The parameters CNN followed in this count are:
• A shooting that involved at least one person being shot (not including the shooter)
• We included accidental discharge of a firearm as long as the first two parameters are met

Someone opened fire at Santa Fe High School, resulting in multiple fatalities, two law enforcement sources told CNN.

A 14-year-old boy went to Highland High, his former school, and began shooting a semiautomatic rifle shortly before classes were scheduled to begin, officials said. A 15-year-old boy was struck in the shoulder.

A 17-year-old student at Forest High School was shot in the ankle shortly before students were to walk out as part of a national protest against gun violence.. The suspect was a 19-year-old former student.

A man was shot in the stomach in the parking lot of Raytown South Middle School during a track meet.

A student shot another student with a BB gun in Gloversville Middle School.

An armed student shot two others at Great Mills High School before a school resource officer fired a round at the shooter. The shooter was killed. One of the students, 16-year-old girl Jaelynn Willey, was taken off life support two days later.

One person was hospitalized after a shooting at an apartment building on the campus of the University of South Alabama.

One student was killed and another critically wounded after an accidental shooting during dismissal time at Huffman High School. Police wouldn’t elaborate further.

A student was shot inside a dormitory at Jackson State University. His injuries were not life-threatening.

Two people were shot to death at a dormitory on the campus of Central Michigan University. The victims were not students and police think the incident stemmed from a domestic situation.

A student at Norfolk State University was shot from an adjacent dorm room while he was doing homework. He was not seriously injured.

A person was shot in a rec center at Mississippi Valley State University. Police said the person was not a student and the injury was not life-threatening.

A person was shot on the campus of Savannah State University and taken to a nearby hospital where he later died. Neither the victim nor the shooter were university students, the college said.

A 19-year-old man gunned down students and staff with a rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, slaughtering at least 17 unsuspecting students and adults. The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, had been expelled from the high school over disciplinary problems, officials said.

A high school student was shot five times in the parking lot of Pearl-Cohn High School.

A high school student was shot in the parking lot of Oxon Hill High. The victim was treated and later released. Police arrested two teens and said they are acquaintances of the victim.

A 15-year-old boy was shot in the head and a 15-year-old girl shot in the wrist at Sal Castro Middle School in Los Angeles, officials said. Two other students were grazed by bullets. A 12-year-old girl was booked for negligent discharge of a firearm in that shooting, which was considered “unintentional,” Los Angeles police said.

A fight led to a shooting in the parking lot of Lincoln High School, fatally wounding a 32-year-old man.

A 15-year-old student shot 16 people — killing two other 15-year-olds — at Marshall County High School, authorities said. The student faces two charges of murder and 12 counts of first degree assault.

A 15-year-old student was wounded in a shooting at a high school in Italy, Texas, authorities said. The suspect, also 15, was quickly apprehended.

A Winston-Salem State University football player, Najee Ali Baker, was shot to death at a party on the campus of Wake Forest University. </s> Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Storms, mudslides and strong winds across Italy left five people dead and one missing, forcing firefighters to carry out 1,600 interventions, while high tides in Venice have covered 70 percent of the historic center, Italian press reported Monday.

Three of the deaths occurred in the central region of Lazio: A man and a woman died in the province of Frosinone after a pine tree crashed into the vehicle in which they traveled, while a 57-year old man was killed by a falling tree in Latina, Il Corriere della Sera reported Monday.

In the southern region of Campania, a 21-year old man was hit by a tree and later died from his injuries in a nearby hospital. A woman in the same region remains in serious condition after similar injuries.

A woman in the province of Savona, a port in northwest Italy, was killed by an object lifted by the wind. In Ancona, located in central Italy along the Adriatic coast, a man remains seriously injured after falling from a roof.

The owner of a sailboat that crashed Sunday against rocks in the port of Catanzaro, in southern Italy, remained missing Monday, the newspaper added.

Officials recommended that city authorities ask the population to limit movements, and counseled the closing of schools and businesses. Many schools in several areas of the country were closed Monday and would likely remain so on Tuesday, though the weather is expected to improve.

Firefighters reported 1,600 interventions, with 700 of them in the north-central region of Toscana.

In Venice, residents saw rapidly rising water during the afternoon causing a record high tide of 61 inches, which flooded 70 percent of the historic city center. The city's public boat transportation service was canceled and a few units were only working to pick up passengers stranded in flooded stops.

The highway pass between Italy and Autria at Brennero was closed twice during the day. There were multiple reports affecting agriculture, ranging from flooded fields in the north to the loss of olives in the south because of the wind.

Italian newspaper Il Messaggero counted six deaths as a result of the bad weather.

In addition to multiple people injured, property damage and stranded tourists, the weather events also delayed train, airplane and highway traveling. </s> Hopes of finding more survivors from Italy's powerful earthquake faded on Friday, with the death toll rising to 278 and the rescue operation in some of the stricken areas called off.

Three days after the quake struck the mountainous heart of the country, sniffer dogs and emergency crews continued to scour the town of Amatrice, which was levelled in the disaster, but there was no sign of life beneath the debris.

"Only a miracle can bring our friends back alive from the rubble, but we are still digging because many are missing," town mayor Sergio Pirozzi told reporters, saying, around 15 people, including some children, had not been accounted for.

In nearby villages, such as Pescara del Tronto, rescuers pulled out after all the inhabitants had been accounted for.

 

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 Italy plans to hold a state funeral for around 40 of the victims on Saturday, which will be held in the nearby city of Ascoli Piceno. A day of national mourning was announced, with flags due to fly at half mast around the country for the dead, who include a number of foreigners.

The civil protection department in Rome said 388 people were being treated for injuries in hospitals, and 40 of them were in critical condition. An estimated 2,500 people were left homeless by the most deadly quake in Italy since 2009.

Survivors with nowhere else to go are sleeping in neat rows of blue tents set up close to their flattened communities. The government has promised to rebuild the region, but some local people feared that would never happen.

"I'm afraid our village and others like it will just die. Most people don't live here year round anyway. In the winter time the towns are virtually empty," said Salvatore Petrucci, 77, who came from the nearby hamlet of Trisunga.

"We may be the last ones to have lived in Trisunga."

More than 1,050 aftershocks have hit the area since the 6.2 magnitude quake early on Wednesday, bringing fresh damage to structures still standing. These included a bridge leading to Amatrice, which had to be closed on Friday, further complicating the rescue operation.

The original quake was so strong that the town nearest the epicentre, Accumoli, sank by 20cm, according to Italy's geological institute.

By Friday, most of the outlying communities were quiet and empty, buildings lying in crumpled mounds, the innards of private homes exposed to the skies and belongings scattered in the debris.

"We have removed the last bodies that we knew about," said Paolo Cortelli, a member of the Alpine Rescue national service who helped to recover about 30 bodies from Pescara del Tronto.

"We don't know, and we might never know, if the number of missing that we knew about actually corresponds to the people who were actually under the rubble."

The foreigners who died in the disaster included six Romanians, a Spanish woman, a Canadian and an Albanian. Three British holidaymakers, including a 14-year-old boy, also died.

The area is popular with vacationers and local authorities were struggling to pin down how many visitors were present when the quake hit.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry said 17 Romanians were still missing. Italy has a large Romanian community, and some of the victims were residents in the country.

The first funeral of a victim was held in Rome on Friday, for Marco Santarelli, the 28-year-old son of a senior state official, who died in the family's holiday home in Amatrice.

"I cannot find the words to describe the grief of a father who outlives his own children. Perhaps there are no words," Marco's father, Filippo Santarelli, told Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Later in the day, a funeral service for six other victims, including an 8-year-old boy and two girls aged 14 and 15, was held in their hometown of Pomezia, south of Rome.

Officials said 181 of the victims had been identified, including at least 21 children. The youngest was just 5-1/2 months old. The eldest was 93.

Hardly a single building was left unscathed in Amatrice, which was last year voted one of the most beautiful old towns in Italy and is famous for its local cuisine.

"Amatrice will have to be razed to the ground," said mayor Pirozzi, who urged youngsters not to leave the area, saying that would mean the end of their community.

"No night can last so long that the sun never rises again. I am convinced that Amatrice will rise again. We owe it to the (218) people who died here."

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has declared a state of emergency for the region, allowing the government to release an immediate 50 million euros (NZ$77.4 million) for the relief work.

He has promised to rebuild the shattered homes and said he would also renew efforts to bolster Italy's flimsy defences against earthquakes that regularly batter the country.

"We want those communities to have the chance of a future and not just memories," he told reporters in Rome on Thursday.

Italy has a poor record of rebuilding after quakes. About 8,300 people who were forced to leave their homes after a deadly earthquake in L'Aquila in 2009 are still living in temporary accommodation.

This latest disaster represents a major political challenge for Renzi, who has been in office for two years. Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was widely criticised for what was perceived to be a botched response to the L'Aquila calamity.

Renzi called for national unity and declined to predict when the homeless might be rehoused. "This is not about setting challenges and making promises. We need the pace of a marathon runner," he said.

Insurance association ANIA estimates that less than one percent of Italy's 33 million homes have private quake coverage, meaning the bill for insurance companies was likely to be low.

That means that the reconstruction bill will have to be paid by the heavily indebted state. Infrastructure Minister Graziano Delrio said on Friday he did not think rebuilding costs would reach the 14 billion euros earmarked for L'Aquila.

Most of the buildings in the Amatrice area were built hundreds of years ago, long before any anti-seismic building norms were introduced, helping to explain the widespread destruction.

Cultural Minister Dario Franceschini said all 293 culturally important sites, many of them churches, had either collapsed or been seriously damaged.

Italy sits on two fault lines, making it one of the most seismically active countries in Europe. Almost 30 people died in earthquakes in northern Italy in 2012 while more than 300 died in the L'Aquila disaster. </s> Genoa bridge collapse: Death toll rises to 43 as thousands attend state funeral for victims

Italy has mourned the victims of the collapse of a motorway bridge in the northern city of Genoa with a state funeral as rescue workers reportedly find four more bodies and a man dies in hospital, bringing the death toll to 43.

On Tuesday a 200-metre section of the Morandi bridge in Genoa gave way in busy lunchtime traffic, sending cars plummeting 45 metres into a dry river bed and near several apartment buildings.

The mass for 19 of the victims was held at the Exhibition and Trade Centre of the northern port city and led by the city's archbishop, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco.

"The initial disbelief and then the growing dimension of the catastrophe, the general bewilderment, the tumult of emotions, the pressing 'whys?' touched us yet again and in a brutal way showed the inexorable fragility of the human condition," Cardinal Bagnasco said.

He encouraged citizens to show solidarity so "we can build new bridges to walk together" and rise above the tragedy.

Cardinal Bagnasco told the mourners that Pope Francis had called him Friday evening to express closeness to all those suffering.

Among the coffins were those of two young Albanian Muslim men who lived and worked in Italy.

Their remains were blessed at the end of the Catholic service by a Genoa imam, who drew applause when he prayed for God to "protect Italy and all Italians".

But some of the victims' families boycotted the event and held their own private services, as a protest against the state, seen as negligent in its role of overseeing safety on the privately run bridge.

The Government had declared Saturday a national day of mourning and declared a state of emergency for Genoa, one of Italy's largest ports.

Hours before the funeral, the toll from Tuesday's bridge collapse rose unofficially to 43, with the reported discovery of four more bodies amid the tons of broken concrete.

The bodies of an Italian couple and their 9-year-old daughter were found in their smashed car under a big block of concrete, Italian news agency ANSA said.

Relatives said the family from northern Italy had been driving to catch a ferry for the island of Elba for their vacation.

Firefighter Stefano Zanut told Sky TG24 TV the last body pulled out of the wreckage was that of a young Italian man, an employee of Genoa's trash company, working under the bridge when it collapsed.

The man's mother had refused to leave a tent set up a few hundred yards away from the rubble until his body was found.

Italian RAI state radio said it is believed he is the last missing person after a German man called officials to say he was not involved in the disaster.

A Genoa hospital said 36-year-old Romanian truck driver Marian Rosca had succumbed to his severe cranial and chest injuries and died.

Doctors had described him as the most severely injured of the survivors, while authorities said several other bridge survivors are still hospitalised.



Before the ceremony began, in a pavilion on Genoa's fairgrounds, President Sergio Mattarella offered quiet words of comfort for families of the victims before taking his place with other Italian leaders, including Premier Giuseppe Conte and the transportation and infrastructure minister in the cavernous pavilion hall.

Mr Mattarella did not speak at the funeral, held on a national day of mourning, but after the ceremony ended he told reporters the bridge collapse "is an unacceptable tragedy".

He called the funeral "a moment of grief shared grief by all of Italy united in this state of mind".

He then demanded that "responsibility be ascertained with rigor" for the collapse of the bridge, which linked two major highways, one leading to Milan and the other toward France.

Members of the fire brigade, rescue teams and the police force were welcomed with applause as they entered the exhibition centre, where the caskets, including a small white one for a child, were lined up in front of a temporary altar.

Players of the city's two soccer teams, Genoa and Sampdoria, sat among the crowd, having refused to play matches this weekend in sign of respect.

Relatives of the dead stood beside the coffins, adorned with white and yellow roses, some with their hands on the caskets.

'You apologise if you feel you are responsible'

The disaster has dragged toll-road operator Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI), controlled by infrastructure group Atlantia , into a political storm.

Speaking after the funeral, top Autostrade executives voiced profound sadness for the victims and said the company would set up a fund of about $780 million for their families.

Chief executive Giovanni Castellucci said the company has a plan to demolish what is left of the largely concrete bridge and build a "less imposing" steel one.

He said the process will take about eight months to complete.

When asked if he would issue an unreserved apology, Mr Castellucci stopped short of an apology:

Mr Castellucci added that he would wait for official investigators to determine responsibility for the collapse, but stated that all the bridges managed by the firm are safe.
A man died and 15 others are injured after an accidental explosion at the building of the Comune in Rocca di Papa, Italy. Emanuele Crestini, the mayor of the city, was critically injured and died ten days later for his injuries, bringing the death toll to two.