Trying to mourn the dead after quake leaves graves open in Italy

It was a day of national mourning in Italy on Saturday. But in the midst of an earthquake zone, still chaotic and reeling from aftershocks, it is not always easy to hold to formality.

People gathered at a roadside cemetery not far from the stricken city of Amatrice certainly found it difficult. They stood outside its iron gate, seeking the shade of its brick walls for hours this morning.

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The coffins carrying the bodies of at least four earthquake victims had been delayed by the organizational headache of visiting dignitaries in Amatrice and by roads and infrastructure under duress.

Augusto Severoni came to help one of his oldest friends bury his mother, his sister and his nephews. Severoni hasn't been able to physically visit his friend before now, he says, because the search and rescue people have been trying to keep people out of the city.

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"When he arrives, I think it's going to be incredibly difficult both for him and for us as well, being able to console him in the way we want to," he says.

It can be hard to offer an old friend in need of a hug in the midst of so much turmoil, let alone support with such devastating loss.

And there are other indignities here. The wrath of the quake dug deep enough to disturb even those laid to rest long ago. The walls of old family tombs and catacombs have crumbled and shattered, spilling flower pots and picture frames and exposing coffins that haven't seen the sunlight for years.