Chants of “Allahu akbar” rang out Saturday at a solemn Catholic state funeral in the Italian city of Genoa for the victims of a bridge collapse, who included two Albanian Muslims. They were among at least 38 people to have died in Tuesday’s tragedy. He led several minutes of silent prayers — punctuated by four resonant chants of “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) — in the presence of Italy’s top dignitaries including President Sergio Mattarella and premier Giuseppe Conte. “We are close to you all,” he added as loud applause erupted inside the makeshift chapel. Our Genoa, which in Arabic means ‘the beautiful’.”The number of dead is expected to rise as rescuers pulled more bodies from a car shortly before the state funeral began.

Source: Punch August 18, 2018 13:41 UTC