«Every 29th June the 11.48pm train passes by whistling. The train drivers always remember it, it is their greeting, their gesture of respect for the victims of this massacre forgotten by everyone.” These are the words of one of the survivors of the Viareggio massacre, the train accident in which 32 people lost their lives. The train whistles, out of respect, in memory of that early summer day, when one of the 14 tanks of the convoy loaded with LPG, damaged by the impact, caused a fire that destroyed an entire neighborhood. A spark to incinerate everything. Where once there were houses and lives there is now a monument with the names of the dead and the “memory house” with the objects stolen from the fire. Puppets, drawings, things that belonged to children.
When the sky above Viareggio turned red
«Everything is burning… I think everyone in the station is dead!». The first voice to tell the story Viareggio massacre it is that of the engineer. The clock had just marked 11:49 p.m., when a few steps from the station the freight train departing from Trecate, in Piedmont, and headed for Gricignano, in Campania, suddenly leaves the tracks. One of the tanks loaded with LPG tips over on its side and tears open. The gas advances like a silent killer until, on its path, it encounters a spark that causes a fire to break out.
It’s hell. This is what the rescuers who tirelessly dug through the smoking rubble say, hoping that under those stones, amidst the destruction, there is still life. This is what those who managed to survive whisper, even though they are condemned to forever carry the scars of the pain they experienced on their bodies.
Trains don’t explode!
Eleven people lost their lives that night. For twenty-one others who died due to burns, the agony was longer. Forty days. Emanuela Menichetti fought so hard, she too was among the faces of those who didn’t make it. The last time her mother heard her daughter’s voice was June 29th. Emanuela called her mother from the emergency room of the Versilia hospital: “There was an accident… but I’m fine… a train exploded…” she said. “What are you talking about, my child… Trains don’t explode!” Mom replied, remembering that night.
It was not only the invaluable work of the firefighters who prevented further explosions. Two railway workers on duty at the station also prevented the disaster from having even more terrifying consequences: they blocked the arrival of an Intercity train, otherwise it would have entered the yard while the fire was devastating people and homes.
Years later, the wounds of Viareggio are still open. The families of the victims continue to seek justice and fight to ensure that a similar tragedy never happens again.
