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Firefighters are at work between rubble, with “the utmost caution”, in a race against time to try to save the six people which are still missing after the explosion at 8.30pm on Saturday destroyed five buildings and damaged another three in Ravanusa, a town of 10,000 inhabitants in the province of Agrigento. Two buildings were pulverized, tell those present. Three people died: Pietro Carmina, Enza Zagarro and Liliana Minacori. Two women (Giuseppa Montana and Rosa Carmina) have been extracted it lives from the remains of their collapsed home and are hospitalized. Among the missing there is also one pregnant woman 9 months. The Prosecutor of Agrigento has opened an investigation for disaster and manslaughter against unknown persons: according to the first reconstructions, the explosion was caused by a large gas leak from the tubing of the methane pipeline.
The roar was also heard in neighboring countries, one of the survivors compares it to “an atomic bomb, we even thought that a plane had crashed nearby”. “My wife was breastfeeding her 4-month-old baby when we heard the explosion and we thought the building had moved,” says teacher Calogero Bonanno, “we are alive by a miracle”. Civil protection speaks of a shock wave of at least 100 meters. The blast zone looks like one war scenario: rubble, broken glasses, debris and an acre burning smell everywhere. On the spot the police, the rescue teams and 118. “There is one total devastation over a very large area, an unusual scenario because generally the damage from a gas explosion is more contained “, explains the communication manager of the Fire Brigade, Luca Dear, describing the scenario that occurred in front of the firefighters in Ravanusa. The firefighters who are concentrating the searches at a specific point. However, there are no signs of people alive. “The times are still compatible with the possibility of finding people alive – says Cari – the hopes are still there”.
The cause – “The gas has accumulated either underground or in a closed environment. It may also have been the trigger for the explosion activation of the lift “, said the commander of the Agrigento fire brigade, Giuseppe Merendino. “In the next few days we will carry out more detailed investigations – he added – it is certain that such an explosion is an exceptional event”. Among the causes of the rupture of the tube could be the bad weather or a landslide. “Surely there was a gas leak that created a sort of expanded methane pocket – he explained Salvatore Cocina director of regional civil protection – the force of the explosion, perhaps triggered by the start of a lift, it may have been powered by a gas heater, but it’s still too early to tell “
The victims and the missing – The explosion involved in particular an entire family nucleus in one of the collapsed buildings. In the house, on different floors, there was an elderly woman and three brothers with their respective wives. The woman’s nephew and her were also in one of the apartments pregnant wife from 9 months who had gone to visit their parents. She was supposed to leave for tomorrow Milano for his brother’s graduation. At the moment only two women, the elderly and a sister-in-law, have survived. The other members of the family are missing or have died. In the adjacent building, which also collapsed, there was a couple, she a social worker, he a professor, both missing
The story – “Suddenly the light went out, then the roof and the floor came down.” It is the dramatic story of Rosa Carmina, one of the two survivors of the collapse. The woman, 80 years old, pulled alive from the rubble, she was interviewed by Republic nell’Licata hospital where she was brought after being pulled out of the rubble of her home. Carmina told the rumors of the firefighters as she was buried by stones and of screamed until he was found. She also heard her sister-in-law, who lived upstairs, pleading for help. She too was saved and was recovered shortly after. “I have not smelled any gas in the past few days,” said the woman.
The investigation – “We will do one mapping pay attention to the places: let’s start from one methane leak but we are not ruling out any leads ”, said the Agrigento prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio after a meeting in the Municipality with the rescuers, reiterating that he had opened an investigation file for disaster and manslaughter. The prosecutor has already appointed a technical adviser and in the next few hours the magistrates and investigators will do a new inspection with the fire brigade. “At the moment there is an area of 10 thousand square meters under seizure, affected by the explosion. It is not excluded – added Patronaggio – that after the new inspection it could be more extensive “.
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