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Dog Stays with Coffin - Italian Earthquake Victims


Monroe

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All these pictures are sad with family members and friends inside a gym with 34 caskets of loved ones ... there is also a picture of a dog beside a casket. I see two white caskets beside one another. I hope the dog has some place to go or someone to offer help ... the people can work things out and come to terms ... maybe different for a dog when they grieve.

At the bottom of the article is a video of another dog being rescued from the rubble.

Heartbreaking Picture of Dog Who Won't Leave Master's Coffin After Italy Earthquake

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/27/heartbreaking-picture-of-dog-who-wont-leave-masters-coffin-after/

Chris Graham

27 August 2016

It is a sight reminiscent of the legend of Greyfriars Bobby. 

Thirty-four caskets lie side by side in a gym in Ascoli Piceno, and beside one  a small blond cocker spaniel sits, devoted to the end, unable to leave his master even in death. 

The scene is a grim snapshot of Wednesday's earthquake that rocked central Italy and left at least 281 people dead and thousands more homeless.

Families grieved beside their departed loved ones, saying their final farewells before they are buried on Saturday.

Little is known of the victim whose companion still guards his casket except that he came from Accumoli, one of the communities that bore the brunt of the devastating quake. The quake was so strong that the town sank by 20 cm, according to Italy's geological institute.

The funeral in the gym is to be presided over by Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole for the victims of nearby Arquata del Tronto. To date 49 of the dead have come from the tiny town and its nearby hamlet Pescara del Tronto.

Matteo Renzi, the prime minister, has declared a state of emergency and authorised 50 million euros (£43 million) for immediate quake relief.

The Italian government also declared Saturday a day of national mourning and scheduled a state funeral to be attended by President Sergio Mattarella.

While the name of the dog is not known, the picture was a striking reminder of the bonds between man's best friend and their owners - a connection epitomised by the story of the Victorian dog that held a 14-year vigil at the grave of his master in Edinburgh. 

The tale of Greyfriars Bobby tells of a small Skye terrier who could not bear to leave his master's body and remained by his grave in Edinburgh from 1858 to 1872. His owner was said to be John Gray, a local policeman.

Earlier this week, a dog trapped in rubble left by the quake was pulled out alive.

...

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They dont call them mans best friend for nothing. My thoughts and heart go out to all the victims and their families (pets too :( ).

Edited by MikeyV
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Some of this story has been updated since I first posted about it. There was no name for the dog or owner ... this now has been added or updated:

"The dog, called Flash, refused to leave the spot, repeatedly pawing at the casket that held the body of his master.

Flash’s owner was Andrea Cossu, 45, who was on holiday in the village of Pescara del Tronto when he was killed by a collapsing building.

The village has been razed to the ground – cars have been crushed by pieces of masonry, houses have crumbled into dust and personal possessions lie scattered amid the debris.

His funeral was held on Friday in Pomezia, the town south of Rome where he lived.

“The two of them were inseparable,” relatives told the Italian media.

Mr Cossu, originally from Sardinia, was one of dozens of victims who lived in and around Rome but who had come to the mountains for a summer holiday.

Flash will now be looked after by Mr Cossu’s wife, who survived the quake."

... They also had a clear picture of the dog beside the casket but they now have writing on the picture and turned it into a video of sorts.

Here is another article with some photos of Flash and sad people. In the pictures of the first article there are two white caskets showing ... in the article below this is mentioned.

"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 Wednesday."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3761486/Dog-proves-man-s-best-friend-refusing-leave-master-s-coffin-mass-funeral-Italy.html

Dog proves he is man's best friend by refusing to leave side of his master's coffin before mass funeral for Italy earthquake victims

.... this link has the original picture and other pictures as they were in the first article. When you look at the picture that has the two white caskets ... beside the one there is a young woman sitting by herself hold a baby or very young child ... beside the other white casket there is a young couple grieving, or it could be two young women ... relatives or such ... it's hard to tell from the pictures ... it may be a young couple and the lone young woman by the other white casket may be holding a baby.

http://www.tert.am/en/news/2016/08/27/dog-master/2116334

...

Edited by monroe
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This may be the story of one of the white caskets ... a sister saved her sister.

'THEY WERE IN AN EMBRACE': Bishop says oldest sister's embrace allowed younger to survive Italy quake

August 27, 2016 - Associated Press

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/08/27/embrace-life-story-2-sisters-in-italy-quake.html?intcmp=latestnews

ASCOLI PIECENO, Italy –  In the chaos of Italy's devastating earthquake, an older sister's embrace allowed a four-year-old girl to survive.

The heartbreaking story of Giulia Rinaldo, 9, and her 4-year-old sister Giorgia was recounted Saturday by the bishop who celebrated a funeral Mass for 35 of the 290 people killed by the quake that ravaged central Italy before dawn Wednesday.

Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole recalled that around 6 or 6:30 p.m. Wednesday — 15 hours after the quake — he returned to a church in his diocese in the town of Pescara Del Tronto to recover its crucifix.

He said at the time, only meters (yards) from the church, firefighters were using their hands to dig out the two sisters.

"The older one, Giulia, was sprawled over the smaller one, Giorgia. Giulia, dead, Giorgia, alive. They were in an embrace," D'Ercole said.

He spoke beneath the crucifix that he recovered that evening, hung in a community gym transformed into a makeshift chapel, as Italy held a national day of mourning.

Massimo Caico, the firefighter who pulled the girls out, told Italy's La Repubblica newspaper that the position of the older girl's body apparently created a pocket of air that allowed Giorgia to survive.

He recounted how a black Labrador, Leo, first gave a sign that he smelled something. Rescuers began digging, finding at first a doll and then a cold human leg, that of Giulia.

Then he saw the ground nearby moving "in the rhythm of what could be breathing."

"Maybe they hugged each other in their sleep or in fear, and the body of Giulia saved Giorgia," Caico told the newspaper.

On Saturday, as weeping Italians bid Giulia and 34 other quake victims farewell with a state funeral, Giorgia spent her fourth birthday in a nearby hospital, recovering from her ordeal.

According to Italian news reports, Giorgia is in a state of shock and has stopped speaking. She is only sleeping, crying and asking for her doll and her mother, who is also recovering from earthquake injuries.

.... this article has more detail about the white caskets and other grieving families - relatives.

"Among them were two small white caskets, holding the bodies of children whose lives were snuffed out when the quake hit at 3.36am on Wednesday, turning a picturesque area of lakes, forests and stone villages into a death zone.

In one of the coffins was the body of an eight-year-old girl, Giulia Rinaldo, who sacrificed her life by throwing herself on top of her four-year-old sister, Giorgia, when the ceiling of their bedroom came crashing down in the village of Pescara del Tronto.

The tiniest white coffin belonged to Marisol Piermarini, who was just 18 months old when she died.

She was asleep at her family’s holiday home in Arquata del Tronto when it was engulfed by the quake.

Her mother, Martina Turco, survived the earthquake that struck the nearby town of L'Aquila in 2009, and had moved away to escape the memories of her ordeal.

Around 500 babies, toddlers and older children were affected by the quake and 21 died."

'Ciao, little one. Sorry we didn't make it in time': Italy mourns earthquake dead at mass funeral

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/27/state-funeral-held-for-the-victims-of-italy-earthquake/

Nick Squires, Pescara del Tronto

Henry Samuel, Rieti

27 August 2016

On a day of desperate grief and tearful farewells, it was perhaps the most poignant image.

Italy held a mass funeral on Saturday for 35 of the 290 people who were killed by the country’s devastating earthquake, with the coffins of the victims lined up in a sports hall in the town of Ascoli Piceno, on the edge of the earthquake zone.

Among them were two small white caskets, holding the bodies of children whose lives were snuffed out when the quake hit at 3.36am on Wednesday, turning a picturesque area of lakes, forests and stone villages into a death zone.

... more at link

Edited by monroe
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