AMATRICE -- Rescue workers found Wednesday morning what is thought to be the last remaining dead body in the rubble of the Hotel di Roma in this town devastated by the earthquake. Firefighters toiled through the night to find the casualty, who was discovered below a beam of reinforced concrete about 10 metres under the room he was thought to be staying in.

 Nevertheless, searches have not stopped in the hotel, since ten rooms remain unchecked, although according to lists of guests and staff there should be no more people in the rubble.

 Meanwhile, Tuesday evening saw the funeral Amatrice, which was presided over by bishop of Rieti Domenico Pompili. The bishop said during his homily: “It is not earthquakes that kill. It is works of man that kill."

 He continued by saying the reconstruction process should not be “a political battle or an opportunity for profiteering, but rather aim to bring back a beauty which it is our duty to preserve.”

 Earlier this week, protests broke out in the town after authorities revealed plans to hold the funeral in the regional capital of Rieti rather than at Amatrice. The location was changed to Amatrice after the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi bowed to pressure from protesters. 

 "There is no way we'll be going to Rieti," residents shouted. "Give us back our dead." 

 The complaints were answered after a phone call between Renzi and mayor of Amatrice Sergio Perozzi, who then announced that the location for the service has since been changed according to the wishes of protesters.

 The Italian premier was quick to confirm the announcement, saying in a tweet that "[t]he funeral of the earthquake victims will be held in Amatrice, as the mayor and his citizens have requested. And they couldn't be more right!" 

 Meanwhile, another funeral took place in Ascoli Piceno, a town in the Le Marche region, on Saturday morning. Italy’s Head of State, Sergio Mattarella, was, along with Renzi.

 The day of the funeral was set by Marche’s president in a meeting with the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini, and with Members of Parliament from the Marche region.

 The funeral had initially been scheduled to take place on Friday afternoon at 3p.m. in the gym building next to Ascoli hospital’s morgue, where there are 45 bodies. Amongst the coffins here were also the white coffins of children who were killed by the earthquake.

 According to the Prefecture, the time and date of the funeral was changed for logistical reasons. The funeral was led by Bishop Giovanni d’Ercole.

 “It would have been awful if the State had decided not to give those killed by the earthquake a solemn and collective funeral,” Boldrini said.

 “Their families were ready to take away the bodies of their loved ones,” but this won’t be what happens. “The Government is still waiting to know who will be participating,” Boldrini added.

 lej-se