Before and after photo of Italian town wrecked by earthquake

Residents in Amatrice, the town worst hit by a
fatal earthquake one year ago today, gathered to mourn the neighbours and
friends they lost in the disaster.

At exactly 3:36 am on Thursday, the town clock in
Amatrice rang 249 times – once for each of the people who died at that moment
in the devastating earthquake one year ago.

The 6.0 magnitude quake which ripped through
communities in the rugged, hilly region in the early hours of August 24th,
2016, claimed a total of 299 lives across the region and still haunts the
country.

The disaster razed much of Amatrice, prompting
mayor Sergio Pirozzi to say “the town isn’t there anymore”.

Just before midnight, residents paid their respects
to each of the victims by reading out their names as well as an anecdote about
their life in a two-hour ceremony punctuated by applause, The Local, an Italian
tabloid said.

They then gathered for a silent candlelit march
which began at the local football pitch, where last year’s mass funerals were
held, which wound its way through the streets where many houses still lie in
ruins.

Mayor Pirozzi also unveiled a memorial to the dead
called Fidelis Amatrix, after the words engraved on an ancient local coin.