Milan buries skyscraper victims

Up to 6,000 attended the service

Thousands of mourners have packed Milan's cathedral for the funeral of two lawyers killed when a light plane crashed into the city's prestigious Pirelli Tower skyscraper last week.

President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and several government ministers were there to pay their respects to the two dead women.

If it wasn't an accident, then why would someone choose to kill themselves by crashing into a skyscraper?

Caterina Russo
housewife

Investigators have completed a post-mortem on the body of the pilot, Luigi Fasulo, but are waiting for tests on the wreckage of the plane to be completed before reaching a verdict on whether the crash was deliberate or accidental.

Fasulo's business activities are also being investigated after reports that he was in financial difficulties just before the crash.

The two women being buried on Tuesday had both worked in the Pirelli Tower for the Lombardy regional government.

	The Pirelli tower: 123 metres (403 ft) high 30 stories Chief architect Gio Ponti Built 1955-59 One of the world's highest concrete buildings

Annamaria Rapetti and Alessandra Santonocito were killed when Fasulo's plane crashed into the 25th and 26th floors last Thursday.

Mourners at the cathedral had a clear view of the tower, which reopened its lower floors on Monday despite the rubble still strewn at its foot.

Cardinal Carlo Maria Marti told the congregation that the crash had "violated a symbol" of Milan.

"When you touch the heart of a man it causes suffering, and it's like that with the Pirelli Tower for this city," said one of the mourners, 63-year-old marketing consultant Angelo Trevella.

The pilot

The crash brought terror to the city, with initial fears of a repeat of 11 September giving way to bewilderment.

	Pilot Luigi Fasulo reports problem with landing gear Plane hits Pirelli tower starting fire in top floors Building evacuated, fires quickly controlled  Crash timeline

"It is terrifying to think that we could be helpless to what one person has in his head," said housewife Caterina Russo, 63.

"If it wasn't an accident, then why would someone choose to kill themselves by crashing into a skyscraper?"

Police have raised the possibility that the Swiss-based Fasulo may have committed suicide over business problems, but members of his family have dismissed the theory.

One lead being probed is that the dead man had fallen victim to a multi-million euro fraud involving money laundering and art trafficking.