AGI – Palazzolo Acreide, a mountain town in the Syracuse area, is in shock the death of the 10 year old boy fell this afternoon into a 15-meter deep well that was half-covered with water. The victim is one of the children of a couple from the village, whose father works as a street cleaner, very well-known in this community where everyone or almost everyone knows each other. The death occurred on the day of the feast of the patron saint, San Paolo, and as a sign of mourning the parish priest and the committee that deals with events related to the cult have decided to suspend the celebrations. “We are certain that with this decision we are interpreting the feeling of collective grief for the loss of little Vincenzo so as to be able to express our closeness to the family”, they explain in a note. At 10 pm this evening, a prayer vigil has been organized for the little boy in the Basilica.
As the hours passed, other details emerged about what happened in the afternoon in the Falabia district: the tragedy would have occurred in a plot of land where all the children taking part in a summer camp run by Anffas, a cooperative that deals with of disabled children. The operators would take the children to a farm to explain the processing of some agricultural products. A lesson that would have been appreciated, then there would have been a moment of pause and some children would have headed towards some swings, which are located a few steps from the well. The 10-year-old would have gone to the top of the well, equipped with a cover on which the victim would have made one or more leaps. A collapse occurred and the little one fell into the cavity, ending up in the water.
The investigators, coordinated by the magistrates of the Syracuse Public Prosecutor’s Office, will have to determine whether the well was safe and built according to the regulations. The first to intervene to help the child was a 54-year-old worker, who tried to lean out to recover the child but remained stuck on the intermediate level of the well between the surface and the water. It will be up to the coroner to establish the causes of death but it is not excluded that the child may have died from injuries caused by the impact with his head during the fall. The autopsy will determine this, however the drowning hypothesis remains. In the meantime, the area is under seizure by order of the Syracuse Public Prosecutor’s Office and interrogations and other investigations are underway to verify whether there are specific responsibilities behind this tragedy.
