Italy quake survivors celebrate bitter Easter

By Silvia Aloisi

L'AQUILA, Italy (Reuters) - Thousands of people made homeless by Italy's deadliest earthquake in 30 years celebrated a sombre Easter on Sunday, huddling for mass at makeshift chapels set up in tent cities and emergency shelters.

Six days after disaster struck the central city of L'Aquila and 26 surrounding towns, killing 294 people, survivors prayed for the dead and sought comfort in religion to help them rebuild shattered lives.

"It's Easter for us too, despite the tragedy and the rubble of the earthquake," L'Aquila archbishop Giuseppe Molinari told hundreds of faithful gathered for mass under a plastic tent at the main homeless camp outside the devastated city centre.

"The resurrection of Christ is also the resurrection of L'Aquila," he said as people struggled to hold back tears.

Some 40,000 people lost their homes in the 6.3 magnitude quake, which hit the Abruzzo region in the early hours of Monday, catching residents in their sleep.

L'Aquila, a medieval city of 68,000, bore the brunt of the disaster and many of its buildings and centuries-old churches crumbled to the ground.

Rescue efforts virtually ended when exhausted firemen stopped searching for a possible survivor in a collapsed four-storey building on Saturday evening and said all missing people had been accounted for.

Hundreds of aftershocks have shaken the area since the quake, hampering rescue operations and terrifying residents.