Car goes wild and overwhelms bar customers – L’Aquila

SULMONA. A near-tragedy occurred in the early afternoon of yesterday in the historic center of Sulmona. A Ford Eco Sport, owned by a tourist from Bracciano and parked along Largo Faraglia, a stone’s throw from Piazza Garibaldi, went wild, ending up after a few meters against the terrace of the bar which is located under the medieval aqueduct. Sitting at the tables was a Friulian family of five people, including two children aged ten and four, into whom the car ended up, hitting them. A twenty-year-old from Sulmona, who immediately noticed the situation, threw himself against the car trying to stop it, or in any case slow down its speed, and was also injured in the leg. There was great concern among the staff and customers of the bar who provided first aid until three 118 ambulances arrived on the scene. It was necessary for the six people involved in the accident to be transferred to the emergency room. Four of them, including minors, were fortunately diagnosed with only a state of agitation. Some bruises and abrasions to the limbs were suffered by the young man from Sulmona, son of the owner of the ice cream bar, and one of the tourists, a 50-year-old, who saw the car hit him. «A frightening scene», comments the young man from Sulmona who was injured. «When I saw the car heading towards the tables I got up in a hurry, trying to slow it down. At first I didn’t feel the pain, then I had to lie down waiting for the ambulance.” A police patrol intervened on site to reconstruct the dynamics of the accident, which occurred almost at the end of the market. The police listened to the customers and those who witnessed the event, as well as the staff and the owner of the restaurant, who were still in shock over the incident. The owner of the car was then traced and was also fined for parking illegally. «We have caused a lot of controversy over the reopening of the Santa Chiara covered car park, but in the end the cars come to park in the centre, near our businesses, where they cannot park», vents the owner of the bar, Lucia Valentini, who rescued the customers and alerted 118. Meanwhile, the damage count begins. «Two chairs destroyed as well as the umbrellas. At least two thousand euros in damages”, adds Valentini.
A patrol from the Sulmona local police also intervened on site to regulate traffic. In recent days, again in the Piazza Garibaldi area, the traffic police had fined other cars prohibited from parking.
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