French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, victim of a deadly attack by Islamist militants in 2015 for its irreverent humour, was criticised by Italians on Friday for portraying victims of an earthquake that killed almost 300 people as different types of pasta.

The cartoon was titled "Earthquake Italian style". It depicted a balding man standing and covered in blood with the moniker "Penne in tomato sauce", a badly scratched up woman next to him labelled "Penne au gratin", and finally feet sticking out between the floors of a collapsed building titled "Lasagne".