Premier Mario Draghi vowed to step up the effort to reconstruct L'Aquila after the devastating 2009 earthquake that claimed 309 lives as he visited the Abruzzo city on Tuesday.
"It is necessary to accelerate the reconstruction due to the moral obligation we have with the citizens," Draghi said as he inaugurated the Parco della Memoria (Park of Memory) in the city.
"We cannot and we must not forget the 309 victims of the earthquake.
"They are 309 angels.
"The earthquake is a deep wound inflicted on the community".
The premier said the government has decided to invest 1.78 billion euros of the COVID-19 NRRP recovery plan to the areas hit by the 2009 quake and the 2016 and 2017 earthquakes in central Italy.
He said the necessary conditions existed for the area to have a "rebirth".
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