Italy grieves as state funeral is held for quake victims

A man cries after a funeral service for victims of the earthquake inside a gym in Ascoli Piceno, Italy August 27, 2016.

Amongst the 35 coffins laid out in a sports hall were small caskets holding the bodies of an 18-month-old baby and a nine-year-old girl, two of the 21 children who are known to have died when the quake hit central Italy early on August 24.

"Don't be afraid to bewail your suffering, we have seen so much suffering. But I ask you not to lose your courage," Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole said in a homily in the hall, which was packed with grieving families and top politicians.

"Only together can we rebuild our houses and churches. Above all, together we can give life back to our communities," he said, speaking in front of a dusty crucifix salvaged from one of the dozens of churches devastated by the quake.

Even as the funeral Mass was being held, rescuers kept searching through the rubble of the worst-hit town, Amatrice, but acknowledged they had little hope of finding more survivors from Italy's worst earthquake in seven years.

Nine more bodies were recovered from the town on August 27, including three pulled overnight from the crumpled Hotel Roma, bringing the death toll in Amatrice alone to 230 residents and tourists.

Authorities said 387 people were still in hospital, with one patient dying of his injuries during the day.

One of the last people to be plucked alive from the debris was a girl called Giorgia, who turned four on August 27. Her sister Giulia's small coffin lay in the center of the sports hall for the funeral Mass.