Parents wail as Italy buries its children

THE wailing of grief-stricken mothers rented the air yesterday at the funeral for 29 earthquake victims, including the teacher and 26 children who were crushed when the school in an Italian village collapsed.

The earthquake, on Thursday, heavily hit San Giuliano di Puglia, a village of fewer than 1,200 people in south-central Italy.

Mourners applauded when Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and his wife, Franca, who was fighting back tears, arrived for the service, under a tent at the outskirts of this now-evacuated town.