WORLD> Europe
Italy to hold state funeral for earthquake victims
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-10 10:06

Local builders, rejecting suggestions that shoddy building was to blame for the collapse of modern buildings that should have been earthquake-proof, including a hospital and student hostel, said some of the damage would prove to be superficial.

Related readings:
Italy to hold state funeral for earthquake victims Aftershocks impede Italy quake teams
Italy to hold state funeral for earthquake victims Tremors impede Italy rescue as hopes fade
Italy to hold state funeral for earthquake victims Death toll in Italy earthquake rises to 275
Italy to hold state funeral for earthquake victims Quake funerals begin in Italy as more bodies found
"We are not killers," said builder Filiberto Cicchetti. "In two weeks it will be seen that 90 percent of private housing built outside the city walls from the '60s on is still viable."

"The medieval city built 450 years ago has been destroyed but the city will be reborn and rebuilt according to the rules of the trade," he promised.

Locals were mystified as to why some houses were flattened while neighboring ones of the same period survived, or why the village of Onna was almost entirely destroyed, and its tiny population decimated, but Monticchio next door was untouched.

"It's as if the earthquake tried to avoid us," 45-year-old Amedeo Nardicchio said in Monticchio. "We were lucky."

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page