Italy earthquake: Firefighter's moving letter to child victim Giulia

Giulia's coffin being carried out at the end of the state funeral service in Ascoli Piceno

A firefighter has written a moving letter to a young child who died in the Italian earthquake.

Giulia Rinaldo, 10, was found on top of her little sister, Giorgia, who was pulled out alive after 16 hours under the rubble in Pescara del Tronto.

The note, spotted left on her small white coffin, was only signed "Andrea".

"Hello, little darling" Andrea wrote. "I only managed to lend a hand to pull you out of the prison of rubble. Forgive us if we arrived too late.

"However, you had stopped breathing by then, but I'd like you to know that we did all we could to pull you out.

"When I return to my house in l'Aquila, I will know that there is an angel watching me from the sky," he says.

"You will be a shining star in the night. Bye Giulia, I love you even though you never got to know me."

Finally, he signed the note with a heart symbol.

Giulia's coffin was laid out with 34 others at a state funeral service held in the regional capital, Ascoli Piceno, on Saturday.

Bishop Giovanni d'Ercole mentioned the sister at the service, saying: "Life and death came face to face and for Giorgia, life won."

Giulia's coffin was carried out of the funeral service by firefighters

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