Mayor declares day of mourning.

Rome's mayor, Ignazio Marino has declared a day of city mourning to mark the funeral of the four-year old boy who fell to his death in the lift shaft of the Furio Camillo station near S. Giovanni on Rome's Metro A line on the afternoon of 9 July.

The boy, called Marco, dropped 20 metres down an empty shaft after stepping into the gap where the lift should have been, slipping out of his mother's hand.

The transport ministry has launched an investigation into the tragedy which appears to have been caused by human error. The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the incident occurred after a metro attendant manually opened a lift blocked with people inside. By doing so, he created a gap between the lift and the platform, into which the child fell.

The tragedy is the latest in a series of events that have shown up the precarious condition of Rome's public transport system. It came after two days of difficulties and delays on the metro network because of a go-slow by train drivers and before a bus strike called for Friday morning 10 July from 08.30-12.30.

On leaving the station the mayor was heckled by an angry crowd.

Photos: ANSA