Benedict comforts survivors of quake
L'AQUILA, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI visited the earthquake-ravaged area of central Italy today to comfort survivors and give them hope to rebuild, visiting tent camps and a dormitory whose collapse epitomized the shoddy construction blamed for many of the 300 deaths.
The pope's first stop was the hamlet of Onna, which was leveled by the April 6 quake, and where around 40 of its 300 residents were killed. More than 260 survivors live in tents clustered in a parking lot that was turned to mud by a steady rain that fell as the pope arrived.
The pontiff kissed a baby held up to him by his mother, and held the hands of many of the homeless who gathered for the intimate, brief visit.
"I would like to affectionately embrace you one by one," the pope told them, standing on a makeshift stage in front of a tent, a few hundred survivors just steps a way. "Had it been possible, I would have liked to visit each village, each neighborhood, go to each tent camp and meet everyone."
He encouraged the survivors to carry on, saying he admired their "courage, dignity and faith" in the face of tragedy.
The 6.3-magnitude quake claimed 296 lives in the towns and villages in the Abruzzo region in the Apennine Mountains. About 50,000 people were driven from their homes, and thousands of buildings were toppled outright or heavily damaged.
Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the shoddy construction blamed for many of the building collapses, looking into both the construction work and materials used amid allegations that sea sand was mixed with cement, corroding it and weakening it.
Benedict appealed to government institutions and companies to turn the relief work into a long-term project for rebuilding.
In L'Aquila, the regional capital, Benedict visited the ruins of the 13th-century Santa Maria di Collemaggio basilica, the symbol of the city, whose roof partially caved in during the quake.
