Italy to hold state funeral for earthquake victims

By Silvia Aloisi and Antonella Cinelli

L'AQUILA, Italy (Reuters) - Italy holds a state funeral on Friday for 281 victims of its worst earthquake in three decades and will then turn its thoughts to rebuilding the lives of the thousands made homeless.

On a national day of mourning about 200 coffins will be laid out on the parade ground of a police academy in the mountain city of L'Aquila for the funeral at 11 a.m. (5 a.m. EDT). About 1,600 bereaved relatives are expected to attend.

"I'll be there," said 30-year-old Angelo Dania, whose house was destroyed by the 6.3 magnitude quake that hit the central Italian region of Abruzzo early on Monday as residents slept.

"I am worried about my house but, in the end, I am the lucky one," he said. "I could have been one of them."

Rescue efforts were drawing to an end as hopes of pulling any more survivors from the rubble faded. "The search is almost over," said Luca Spoletini, spokesman of the Civil Protection agency which is coordinating Italy's response to the emergency.

But one fireman said: "As long as we know there are people under the rubble we'll keep searching even if we're sure they're dead. Families need to know what happened to their loved ones."

Rescue work continued to be hampered by violent aftershocks on Thursday, which further damaged buildings in the medieval towns and terrified the 17,000 people living in tent villages.

Thousands more survivors are being put up in hotels or relatives' homes.