Vincenzo played happily. He laughed and jumped, unaware that there was a void beneath him. The lid of the well gave way. He fell and died fifteen meters deep. He was only ten years old. An absurd death. The attempt to save him by lowering himself into the well by an operator of the association that had organized the trip to the countryside of Palazzolo Acreide, a municipality in the province of Syracuse, was in vain. The dynamics are still unclear, but there are the accounts of some witnesses to reconstruct the story.
It’s almost lunchtime yesterday morning. The “Doniamo sorrisi” association, which is part of the Anffas foundation operating at a national level, organized a summer camp for disabled and able-bodied children. Objectives: sharing and integration. Among them are Vincenzo and his brother. The program includes a visit to a farm in the Falabia district and a lesson to explain how agricultural products are grown and then cooked.
Child died in a well at 10 years old: the excursion, the fall and the attempts to save him. What happened
The reconstruction
During a break the children move freely. They are all attracted by the swings that are there, a few meters from the well. Everyone except Vincenzo who looks elsewhere. He climbs onto the wall that borders the well and the watering hole for the animals and starts jumping. The sheet metal cover gives way and opens downwards backwards. The jumps probably caused the safety latch to open. Carmela Caligiore, 54, an operator of the foundation, noticed the tragedy. They call for help, in the meantime the woman desperately tries to lower herself into the well. She slips and falls too. She can’t get back up anymore. Little Vincenzo dies from the trauma of the fall or perhaps drowned in the water covering a third of the well. «Putrid water», says the mayor Salvatore Gallo. He adds: «I approached the child to kiss him when he was recovered and I smelled the bad smell. The wells in Sicily which are on their knees due to drought are all dry. Not this, damn it.”
The teams of the provincial fire brigade command are activated with the support of the “Drago 148” helicopter, which took off from Catania Fontanarossa airport, and a team from the Speleo-Alpine Fluvial Unit.
«We intervened immediately when the distress call came to us. Once the team arrived on site, the firefighters immediately lowered themselves into the well and managed to recover the woman alive, who was entrusted to the paramedics. Unfortunately there was nothing that could be done for the little boy, we tried everything we could but when we recovered him he was already dead”, says the commander of the Syracuse fire brigade, Ugo Macchiarella.
Artesian well, what is it? The case of the dead child near Syracuse (reminiscent of Alfredino Rampi)
The rescue
They didn’t have time to pull Vincenzo out alive. The woman, however, is safe. When she sticks her head out of the well, she is unconscious. Someone fears the worst. Then she bursts into tears. Luckily, she only suffered bruises, contusions and breathing problems. “I didn’t make it, I didn’t make it, why? Why…?”, she continues to repeat while being examined in shock at the hospital in Syracuse. She is discharged in the evening.
The Syracuse prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation, still against unknown persons. The crime currently being investigated is manslaughter. The magistrates are trying to reconstruct the dynamics of the tragedy and to understand if the well, 15 meters deep, was reported. An autopsy will be performed on the little boy’s body. The first to be interviewed by the police will be Giuseppe Giardina, president of the Anffas Foundation and owner of the farm where the tragedy occurred. An entire town is in mourning. The parish priest and the committee for the celebrations in honor of Saint Paul the Apostle, patron saint of the city, have decided to suspend all initiatives, interpreting “the feeling of collective grief for the loss of Vincenzo so as to be able to express our closeness to the family”. “No one can want to celebrate, we are shocked”, says the mayor. In the evening the community gathers in a prayer vigil for little Vincenzo Lantieri. They want to express their closeness to dad Salvo and mom Paola who both work in the municipal waste collection and disposal service. Psychologists will support them. They lost a son, Vincenzo, who jumped and played with his peers.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Read the full article at
The messenger
