Italy's Premier Wants to Offer Sea Cruises to Survivors of Quake

L'AQUILA, Italy – An Italian news agency says Premier Silvio Berlusconi wants to offer sea cruises in the Mediterranean to some survivors of last month's earthquake in central Italy.

ANSA news agency quoted Berlusconi as saying Friday that a series of holidays in the Adriatic Sea were being organized this summer.

Click to view quake aftermath photos

ANSA reported Berlusconi saying that officials were "also looking into cruises on the Mediterranean for whole families and youngsters."

Berlusconi in his youth worked as a cruise ship singer. He was speaking during a visit to quake hit L'Aquila.

The 6.3-magnitude quake killed nearly 300 people, displaced some 50,000 and toppled entire blocks of buildings in the Abruzzo region.

The premier has visited the area several times since the quake struck on April 6.