Bergame (I)
Sunday evening, the Italians paid tribute to those who died of the new coronavirus in the martyr province of Bergamo, in the north of the country.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Sunday night paid tribute to the dead of the new coronavirus in the martyred province of Bergamo in northern Italy, citing “indelible scars” for the country. “Here in Bergamo tonight, there is Italy that has suffered, that has been hurt, that has cried. And who, while wanting to pick up the pace of life, knows she can’t forget what happened, ”Sergio Mattarella pointed out.
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The new coronavirus has killed more than 6,000 people in the province of Bergamo. The images of dozens of coffins collected in the church in the city cemetery and the macabre procession of military trucks transporting them went around the world in March, testifying to the drama experienced by this province.
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During the health crisis, due to confinement measures, the deceased were not entitled to a funeral. To pay tribute to the victims, a ceremony was organized on Sunday evening in the monumental cemetery of the city, in the presence of the Head of State and the 324 mayors of the affected communes, who all wore a mask and the tricolor scarf.
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Relatives of the victims could not be invited, too numerous to guarantee physical distance, but members of the choir were also affected by the tragedy. A minute of silence was observed. Then President Mattarella laid a wreath at the foot of the funeral monument, while a young volunteer read poetry.
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“Images you can’t forget”
“The epidemic has changed our lives, leaving indelible scars that have changed our priorities,” said Matarella. “Lives torn away, often without a last hug, without a last goodbye (…) all of us keep images impossible to forget”. “To remember means to reflect seriously (…) on what did not work, the deficiencies of the system”, but also to remember the positive, “the extraordinary availability and humanity” of the medical personnel or the forces of the order, he said.
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The Requiem by the Bergamo composer Gaetano Donizetti was then performed by the choir and orchestra of the Donizetti opera festival in Bergamo. Relatives of victims filed fifty complaints on June 10 with the Bergamo Public Prosecutor’s Office to seek justice and denounce dysfunctions.
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“The only killer was that cursed virus”
“I hope that the governor (of the Lombardy region, to which the province belongs, Attilio Fontana) will take this opportunity to listen to the pain of Bergamo, and that, in front of the monumental cemetery, which was the symbol of a massacre , he will publicly ask citizens for forgiveness, “said Luca Fusco, spokesperson for the committee” We will denounce – Truth and justice for the victims of Covid-19 “. Attilio Fontana replied that “the only killer was this cursed virus”, adding that “peace will not be found by stoking unnecessary revenge”.
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The epidemic has killed more than 34,000 people in Italy, the first country in Europe to have been affected and where it now seems to be largely under control.
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(AFP)
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