Two dead and five injured: the toll of the road accident that occurred yesterday afternoon in Portoverrara, between the town center of the Portuense hamlet and the “Baruffino” restaurant is dramatic. The first to lose his life was Ali Bàbar, 38 years old, followed by his workmate a few hours later despite the care given by the doctors. Seven people were involved, all coming from Pakistan and residing in Portomaggiore and surrounding areas, all agricultural workers who were returning from work in Lagosanto in Salvi’s greenhouses. Extremely hard work, with the greenhouses amplifying the heat that has begun to strike mercilessly in this late spring period. The accident occurred around 3pm, the driver of the car lost control of the vehicle, an Opel Zafira, the minivan skidded and then ended up in the canal that runs alongside the road. The canal in this period is full of water, the Reclamation Consortium has filled the waterways to allow farmers to quench the thirst of their crops. The car overturned, the workers managed to get out of the passenger compartment, but someone had remained under water for too long and most likely drowned. The alarm went off quickly, help arrived on site, a fire brigade crane from Ferrara and two teams from the Portomaggiore detachment; also the air ambulance, two ambulances and the police forces, Carabinieri and Local Police, who cordoned off the accident area and took note of the dynamics of the accident. The firefighters recovered all the occupants of the vehicle with a wooden ladder and placed them on the canal bank. A man immediately appeared in desperate conditions, for half an hour the firefighters and paramedics took turns performing cardiac massage, and then gave up. A second laborer fought between life and death, and then died in an ambulance; the other five were injured, but their lives are not in danger. “They were returning from their work shift – explains the manager of the Pakistani labourers, who speaks good Italian – In the Portomaggiore area, around a hundred people work for me in the Lagosanto area. The shift of those who were involved in the accident goes from 6 at 2pm; they had passed along the road that crosses the Mezzano Valleys, then I don’t know what happened”. Other workmates arrived a few minutes after the accident. “They are all good people – they say in desperation – they came to Italy to work. They are friends, until a few minutes ago we were laughing and joking, the work shift was over and unfortunately this tragedy happened”. The road that from Portomaggiore connects Portoverrara and then the Mezzano is used as a shortcut to get to the Comacchio beaches or the Po Delta, but it is very dangerous, the scene of many accidents, including fatal ones. On the same road, a few hundred meters earlier, a Coop Estense salesman lost his life a couple of years ago; even then he was returning home from work.
Franco Vanini
