Italy holds state funeral for earthquake victims as death toll rises to 291

A day of national mourning began today for victims of the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that struck central Italy on Wednesday, killing 291 people.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi joined mourners at a state funeral for 35 victims at a community gymnasium in the town of Ascoli Piceno, capital of the March region.

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Ahead of the funeral, caskets were lined up in the gym where mourners have been bidding farewell to loved ones, kneeling, crying and placing their hands on flower-covered caskets.

Afterwards, the coffins were taken to a small cemetery in the mountain town of Arquata del Tronto.

Italy's civil protection agency released a higher death shortly before funeral services began.

The worst-hit town was Amatrice, which now has 230 confirmed deaths. It is there that the death toll has been rising. Three more bodies were recovered overnight from the rubble in the hilltop town that bore the brunt of the devastation.

Elsewhere, 11 were killed in Accumoli and 49 in Arquato del Tronto.

Residents of central Italy were rattled by a series of aftershocks overnight, the strongest measuring 4.2.

A recent aftershock collapsed the only northern entrance to the city, the small Tre Occhi Bridge, sealing Amatrice off to rescue vehicles and ambulances. Residents were left a half hour walk away from their homes under the scorching sun.

Bulldozers were working to complete a new 700-metre-long bypass into the town, just a few metres from the collapsed bridge.