Premier Mario Draghi lays a wreath to the almost 300 victims of the devastating central Italian 2016 earthquake in the worst-hit town, Amatrice in Lazio.
On the night 24th August, 2016, a magnitude-6 earthquake destroyed much of Amatrice, Lazio. There was considerable damage in other towns of the borders of Lazio, Umbria, Marche and Abruzzo.
In total, 299 people died; 237 of them in Amatrice.
Anniversary ceremonies
On the fifth anniversary of the quake, there were ceremonies at Amatrice and other badly hit villages including Accumoli, also in the province of Rieti, and Arquata sul Tronto near the southern Marche city of Ascoli Piceno.
Officials attending included the head of the civil protection department, Fabrizio Curcio.
Mass held by Bishop of Reti
After laying the wreath in a park destroyed by the tremor, Draghi and the others attended a Mass. It was led by the bishop of Rieti, monsignor Domenico Pompili, in the nearby sports field.
It was the deadliest quake in Italy since the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake which killed 308 people in Abruzzo.
Many of the buildings destroyed by the quake have yet to be rebuilt. Draghi said reconstruction was now proceeding faster and would go even quicker with incoming EU funds.
