Syracuse, June 27, 2024 – He was struggling with the preparations of the patronal feastSt. Paul the Apostle, who falls tomorrow, when they warned him of the tragedy: the death of a 10-year-old boy who fell into an artesian well and the teacher who was injured in trying to save him. “I rushed to Falabiathere were already firefighters trying to bring the educator up and then there were the boy’s parents.”
The well where the 10 year old boy died and (in the circle) Salvatore Gallo, mayor of Palazzolo Acreide
Salvatore Gallo59 years old, mayor of Palazzolo Acreide, can barely contain his emotions and tears.
“I know them well, the father and mother of the dead child, he does small cleaning jobs for the municipality. I was also present in the town hall when they came to enroll the two youngest children in the Grest (summer group, ed.). I have them we saw again in front of the well, a terrible scene, the mother spoke to her son who was down there. She knew he was dead, she had already understood everything, and yet she continued to speak to him, as if she could hear it. Something that gave me shivers and a knot at the throat.”
Then the woman was pulled up…
“She was more dead than alive, she was crying in despair because she hadn’t been able to save him. She was brave, a true heroine, she threw herself into the well without hesitation. Few, I think, would have done what she did.”
Was the rescue immediate?
“I think so. When I arrived I also called a friend of mine who is a retired firefighter and he alerted the team that was in Catania. They arrived in less than 15 minutes, by helicopter.”
What idea did you have of the dynamics?
“I don’t know what happened, when I arrived I saw the hatch bent downwards, a sign that it had given way under the weight of someone or something. The bad luck is that all the wells in Sicily are dry due to the drought, while that one still had a couple of meters of water”.
Doesn’t a well near the swings and games seem strange to you?
“Anfass told me that the well was closed with a rigid trapdoor, secured with a padlock. The association’s summer camps had been held in that farmhouse for years. Responsibilities will have to be ascertained, now is just the time for grief. I can only say that our community is devastated by the pain of the loss of a young life.”
