Thousands file past Italy's dead
ROME, Italy (AP) -- Thousands of mourners, from Italy's president to ordinary citizens, streamed past the caskets of 19 Italians killed in Iraq, paying their respects Monday to the victims of Italy's worst military disaster since World War II.
Shortly before, the remains of the 19th victim Cpl. Pietro Petrucci -- who had been pronounced dead Saturday after being declared brain dead -- arrived at Rome's Ciampino airport. His body was then taken to Rome's Vittoriano monument to be displayed with the other victims.
"They were angels bringing peace, to die like that is not fair," Valentina Angelone, a 21-year old student, said as she lined up with thousands of others outside the monument in Rome's central Piazza Venezia.
The area around the monument was already filled with people when the coffins, draped in red-white-and-green flags, were carried inside the building. The vast Piazza Venezia was partially closed off to traffic.
People in the crowd were carrying notes and bunches of flowers. Some had to wait hours for a look at the coffins.
Italy's top officials were the first ones to pay their respects. President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who had just flown back from the United States, came with his wife. He and Premier Silvio Berlusconi also exchanged a few words with the victims' families.
The deaths of the 19 Italians -- 12 Carabinieri, five army soldiers and two civilians -- have stunned Italy and created a groundswell of pride in the work the Italian troops were trying to do to help rebuild Iraq.
"I feel pain and admiration," said Tamara Crolla, a 19-year-old student who came from Caserta in southern Italy to pay her respects. She said she felt proud of the nation. "This feeling has brought everyone together."
Rome officials said they expect about a million people at the public viewing, which was scheduled to last until a state funeral Tuesday morning. The funeral, to be broadcast live on Italian state TV from a Rome basilica, was certain to bring more distress to a country that has been in mourning since Wednesday's attack in the southern city of Nasiriya.
On Tuesday, the whole nation will pay tribute. The Colosseum will turn off its lights, schools will observe a minute of silence, shops will close briefly and workers will pause for 10 minutes.
The attack killed 32 people and wounded 80. Petrucci was taken to a hospital in Kuwait, where he was declared dead after his life support system was switched-off.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe....ap/index.html
ROME, Italy (AP) -- Thousands of mourners, from Italy's president to ordinary citizens, streamed past the caskets of 19 Italians killed in Iraq, paying their respects Monday to the victims of Italy's worst military disaster since World War II.
Shortly before, the remains of the 19th victim Cpl. Pietro Petrucci -- who had been pronounced dead Saturday after being declared brain dead -- arrived at Rome's Ciampino airport. His body was then taken to Rome's Vittoriano monument to be displayed with the other victims.
"They were angels bringing peace, to die like that is not fair," Valentina Angelone, a 21-year old student, said as she lined up with thousands of others outside the monument in Rome's central Piazza Venezia.
The area around the monument was already filled with people when the coffins, draped in red-white-and-green flags, were carried inside the building. The vast Piazza Venezia was partially closed off to traffic.
People in the crowd were carrying notes and bunches of flowers. Some had to wait hours for a look at the coffins.
Italy's top officials were the first ones to pay their respects. President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who had just flown back from the United States, came with his wife. He and Premier Silvio Berlusconi also exchanged a few words with the victims' families.
The deaths of the 19 Italians -- 12 Carabinieri, five army soldiers and two civilians -- have stunned Italy and created a groundswell of pride in the work the Italian troops were trying to do to help rebuild Iraq.
"I feel pain and admiration," said Tamara Crolla, a 19-year-old student who came from Caserta in southern Italy to pay her respects. She said she felt proud of the nation. "This feeling has brought everyone together."
Rome officials said they expect about a million people at the public viewing, which was scheduled to last until a state funeral Tuesday morning. The funeral, to be broadcast live on Italian state TV from a Rome basilica, was certain to bring more distress to a country that has been in mourning since Wednesday's attack in the southern city of Nasiriya.
On Tuesday, the whole nation will pay tribute. The Colosseum will turn off its lights, schools will observe a minute of silence, shops will close briefly and workers will pause for 10 minutes.
The attack killed 32 people and wounded 80. Petrucci was taken to a hospital in Kuwait, where he was declared dead after his life support system was switched-off.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe....ap/index.html
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