LA MADDALENA. Tragedy in Sardinia. A young officer from the SDAI unit of the Navy, Pietro Stipa, 26 years old, Tuscan from Argentario (Grosseto), died shortly before dawn today, Saturday 15th, following injuries sustained when his dinghy hit the rocks between La Maddalena and Santo Stefano. His girlfriend, a twenty-year-old from La Maddalena, was also on board.
The alarm went off at three in the morning when a man, who was on the “Post Office” platform, heard a terrible splash and then the sound of propellers overboard. He immediately alerted the La Maddalena coast guard who mobilized two patrol boats. Once they reached the area, the captain’s office crews immediately realized what had happened: a dinghy, with a huge gash in the front, had ended up on a rock and a girl was asking for help.
She was immediately rescued and taken away in shock (it seems she was slightly injured) while the young officer could not be found. It was her friends and colleagues who recovered the lifeless body of Pietro Stipa at several meters of depth. You also lent a hand to the operations with the Delcomar night ferry which, around 4am, illuminated the stretch of sea in front of Santo Stefano with its headlights.
The Tempio Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation to understand exactly what happened: the couple, aboard a 5-metre dinghy, apparently moved away from the main island towards Santo Stefano for a night tour. Then the impact against the rock and a young life shattered.
