From colleagues to friends to become “like brothers”. A bond, that of Luca Pupillo and Carmelo Licata, born between the counters of an Abruzzo bar in 2021, but which in a very short time was consolidated and continued despite the distances. A bond now destroyed by the tragic death of Luca, who died at just 26 years old in a car accident that occurred on Saturday morning, shortly after 4.30, on Colombo. «When a friend of ours wrote to me to tell me the news I couldn’t believe it. I listened to the voice message and thought it was impossible”, says Carmelo, his voice breaking with emotion, still not understanding how it is possible that his “protege” died like this. That “protégé” that Carmelo raised professionally because it was precisely in his place in Giulianova that “Luca took his first steps as a bar-tender, becoming, thanks to his innate talent, a champion”, among the most sought after in the capital and beyond .
Luca Pupillo, the Bulgari barman who died in an accident on Colombo: after the collision with a scooter he was hit by a car
THE MEETING
«When I received Luca’s CV I saw that he had no experience, but something told me that he was good. And I wasn’t wrong. In less than a year – says Carmelo – Luca has become a professional with great skills, thus contributing to making our place successful and entering the list of the 500 best bars”. A success that came thanks to his abilities, but also to his character. «We worked side by side for a year and a half, but it didn’t take long for me to understand how smart he was. He was a boy who learned in a very short time. And the results he has achieved are confirmation of this”, says Carmelo again. In fact, in a short time the 26-year-old, «on the occasion of a collaboration between clubs, managed to get noticed by the Bulgari bar-manager who proposed him to work for them», says Luca’s colleague with a hint of pride. And so the young man from Abruzzo moved first to Dubai and then to Rome to the Bulgari hotel in Piazza Augusto Imperatore, where he worked until the day of the accident. Even there now everyone mourns him, but they prefer to remain silent, closed in their grief for the loss of “the beloved Luca”, say his colleagues.
FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES
Pupillo “was not only a great professional, he was also a wonderful person who managed to be everyone’s friend, inside and outside the bar”, say the many who collaborated with him in the past. A shock for his colleagues and for those who frequented the places where he worked. “A really kind person who gave me wonderful memories,” says one customer. A kindness from times gone by that not even the inhabitants of Infernetto, where Luca lived, will forget. “He had a contagious smile that always put him in a good mood,” recalls a resident.
That smile that will now be missed by colleagues, friends, but above all by his family. To his father Alessandro, his mother Elisabetta and his little sister, whom Luca adored so much. «I spoke to the father on the phone, he was in shock, he couldn’t say anything. Luca truly leaves an immense void”, says Carmelo, sighing. He sighs and tries to hold back the tears for that “younger brother” who is no longer there.
THE INVESTIGATIONS
Local police investigations to reconstruct the dynamics of the accident are still ongoing. After hearing the witnesses, the police are viewing the cameras in the area, useful for understanding how fast the vehicles involved were proceeding. In the next few days, tests will be carried out on the vehicles and an autopsy will be carried out on the young man’s body. According to an initial reconstruction, Luca was traveling on his Kawasaki, the much-loved motorbike that he had bought a few months ago, when he collided with a scooter driven by a 34-year-old policeman. An impact so strong that it sent the 26-year-old flying onto the asphalt where a few seconds later he was hit by a Ford Fiesta that was arriving at that moment.
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