Relatives of the victims of the Costa Concordia cruise ship leave a rememberance service on the island where the ship ran aground. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
FAMILIES waiting for news of relatives lost in the Italian cruise disaster attended a special remembrance mass, nine days after the tragedy which left at least 13 dead.
Priest Lorenzo Pasquotti, who sheltered passengers in the nave in the hours after the disaster, told relatives gathered at the San Lorenzo church on the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio that they should not give up hope.
"He was very reassuring, very soothing. He spoke from the heart about this tragedy which has hit us all," said local Sabrina Grazini, who attended the mass with her husband.
"I think everybody needed a moment to just pull together and take a breath, and remember that in all the chaos of the search for survivors, people died that night," she said.
The parents of missing French couple Mylene Litzler and Michel Blemand attended the mass, accompanied by the French ambassador to Italy, Alain Le Roy, who said they were receiving psychological as well as moral support.
"It was a very moving mass. I lost two of my brothers and my husband in a ship wreck, I can't bear to think of all those people in the dark, being eaten by the fish. I pray for them," said 77-year-old Giovanna Fanciulli.
The Costa Concordia ran aground and keeled over off Giglio on the night of January 13 with 4229 people from 60 countries on board.
Drenched survivors sought shelter in the church, as locals helped pull others from the water and provided food and warm clothes.
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