The telltale white coffin of a child stood out in the row of caskets. The story of the little girl it carried added to Italy’s heartbreak.

During a funeral Mass Saturday for 35 of the 291 people killed by the earthquake that ravaged central Italy, Bishop Giovanni D’Ercole recalled witnessing the recovery of 9-year-old Giulia Rinaldo. Around 6 p.m. on Wednesday — 15 hours after the quake struck — D’Ercole went to recover a crucifix from the church in the town of Pescara Del Tronto. Steps away, firefighters were digging out Giulia and her 4-year-old sister, Giorgia. The older girl was over the younger. Giulia was dead, and Giorgia was alive. “They were in an embrace,” D’Ercole said.(nypost.com)…[+]