A mass funeral for victims of the Abruzzo earthquake is taking place as Italy holds a day of national mourning for its 289 dead. The families of those who died and senior politicians are among those who are attending the state funeral near the shattered city of L'Aquila. Two-hundred-and-five victims are being buried at the ceremony. Pope Benedict XVI urged quake survivors to be courageous and hopeful, and said he was "spiritually among" them. "In these dramatic hours when a fearful tragedy has blighted this land, I feel spiritually present, amongst all of you, and I want to share your anguish and I want to implore God to grant eternal rest to the victims," he said in an address read out at the start of the service by his personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein. Earlier the government extended the search for people who could still be alive under the rubble until Sunday. But rescue workers believe the chances of finding anyone alive are remote and so will focus on recovering bodies and assessing the extent of the damage. Aftershocks are continuing to hamper rescue efforts. On Thursday evening a tremor measuring 4.9, the fourth-largest since the earthquake, brought down a badly damaged four-storey building in the centre of L'Aquila. The death toll was raised to 289 on Friday morning. Christian message The earthquake victims are being honoured in a two-hour, open-air service at a police training base outside L'Aquila. Dozens of coffins bedecked with flowers lay in four rows at the funeral site, attended by grieving relatives. Small white caskets with childrens' bodies lay on top of their parents'. The Mass is being celebrated by the Archbishop of L'Aquila, Giuseppe Molinari, and a senior representative of the Pope, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. At the end of the Christian service, an imam will pray at the coffins of six Muslim victims. President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are also attending. Mr Berlusconi was seen comforting mourners before the ceremony. Visibly overcome with emotion, Archbishop Molinari spoke earlier to about 300 worshippers in one of the large tent camps for the homeless. "I can't say any learned words to explain what happened but I can say that Christ has risen," he said, speaking just before Easter. Pope Benedict celebrated a Holy Thursday Mass that included the traditional blessing of holy oils, some of which the Church will send to the earthquake zone as a sign of solidarity. The Italian government has also moved to ease financial pressures on the survivors. It has approved a package of emergency financial measures providing money to pay rents, and suspending gas and electricity bills for two months. Building standards Meanwhile, President Napolitano has said poor construction is to blame for many of the deaths in Monday's disaster. On Thursday, Mr Napolitano visited both L'Aquila and the devastated nearby village of Onna, as well as one of the camps sheltering some of the 28,000 people left homeless by the quake. Citing "widespread irresponsibility" in the design and construction of modern buildings, he called for an investigation to find out how it was possible that essential buildings standards had not been applied. Modern buildings that suffered partial or total collapse in the quake include a hospital, city buildings, the provincial seat and university buildings, AFP news agency reports. "No one should shut their eyes," President Napolitano said. Franco Barberi, a member of the parliamentary committee on major risk prevention, told the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera: "The same earthquake in California would not have killed a single person." About 1,000 damage assessors have begun to check premises to see which ones are safe. At least 16 children, including a five-month-old baby, were killed by Monday's 6.3-magnitude earthquake. "As long as we know that there are people under the rubble, we will keep searching even if we're sure they're dead," one fireman told the Reuters news agency. "Families need to know what happened to their loved ones." Source: BBC