ASCOLI PICENO, Italy — A young man wept over a little girl’s small white coffin, while a woman nearby gently stroked another white coffin ahead of a state funeral in Italy for some of the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck a central mountainous area this week.

As Italy observed a day of national mourning, with flags flying at half-staff, those hit hardest by the tragedy expressed their grief.

Everywhere people hugged and cried as they stood amid more than 30 coffins laid out in a community gym in Ascoli Piceno, scene of the state funeral in the presence of President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Matteo Renzi.

“It is a great tragedy. There are no words to describe it,” said Gina Razzetti, a town resident who joined hundreds of local people for the funeral. “Each one of us has our pain inside. We are thinking about the families who lost relatives, who lost their homes, who lost everything.”

The two children being mourned were an 18-month girl, Marisol, and 9-year-old Giulia, whose sister was miraculously pulled from the rubble after being buried for many hours. The surviving child, Giorgia, turned 4 Saturday.