WORLD> Europe
Death toll in Italy earthquake rises to 275
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-09 16:43

Two people were arrested for suspected looting Wednesday in the nearly leveled town of Onna, the ANSA news agency said, citing police. They were freed after proving to police the euro80,000 ($105,000) they had on them was theirs, ANSA said.

L'Aquila's police chief, Filippo Piritore, striding through the city on Thursday morning, said no arrests had been made in the city for looting, pointing to heavy police patrols. He said some people have been stopped who appeared to be intent on robbing unattended homes and other properties.

L'Aquila's medieval center has been completely closed to any traffic, making the center a ghost city.

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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.

Sixteen of the dead were children, Berlusconi said, and of the injured, 100 remained in serious condition.

On Wednesday, the first funerals were held for the victims, including for Giuseppe Chiavaroli, 24, a football player in a lower-division team who was killed along with his girlfriend in Monday's quake.

The Vatican's No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, was to conduct a funeral Mass for most of the victims on Friday, Vatican officials said.

The Vatican granted a special dispensation for the Mass, because Good Friday, which marks Jesus' death by crucifixion, is the only day in the year in which Mass in not celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church.

The funeral will be held outdoors, as no churches are stable enough to host a Mass.

The Vatican said Pope Benedict XVI would visit the affected area sometime after Easter Sunday and that he does not want to interfere with relief operations. The pope praised the aid operations as an example of how solidarity can help overcome "even the most painful trials."

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