Italy buries bridge collapse dead as outrage simmers

GENOA, Italy: Thousands of mourners attended a state funeral in the Italian city of Genoa to bid a solemn farewell to victims of a bridge collapse that has sparked nationwide anger, while rescuers pulled more bodies from the rubble.

Large crowds packed inside an exhibition hall turned into a makeshift chapel where coffins adorned with flowers and photographs were lined up, although the families of some victims shunned the state event.

"I lost a friend but I came for all the victims," local resident Nunzio Angone told AFP.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte presided over the hour-long Catholic service, which coincided with a national day of mourning.

The fire service said the confirmed death toll from Tuesday’s disaster now 39, with several children among the victims.

There was long applause as a priest read out the names of the dead and also paid respects to the latest unnamed victims discovered inside a car under debris early on Saturday.

Local media reported that the bodies were those of a family of three, including a nine-year-old girl.