President Giorgio Napolitano visited the site of Monday's devastating L'Aquila earthquake Thursday, paying his respects to the 279 victims and thousands of homeless.
Visiting a village just outside the Abruzzo capital that has been virtually razed to the ground, the 83-year-old president berated photographers, gesticulating and saying:
''I haven't come here to be photographed by you people, get out of the way. Don't bother us''!
Napolitano hailed the work of rescue teams, telling them ''I want to thank you for all you've done''.
About 150 people have been pulled out alive from the rubble and work will continue over the weekend for the handful of people still missing.
