Rigopiano, 8 convictions and 22 acquittals on appeal

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 14 - An appeal court on Wednesday convicted eight people and acquitted 22 others in relation to the Rigopiano avalanche disaster in Abruzzo seven years ago that claimed 29 lives.
    Judges in the regional capital L'Aquila upheld the convictions handed down at first instance against Farindola mayor Ilario Lacchetta, provincial officials Paolo D'Incecco and Mauro Di Blasio, technician Giuseppe Gatto and former hotel manager Bruno Di Tommaso.
    They also handed down a guilty verdict against former Pescara prefect Francesco Provolo, his former cabinet chief Leonardo Bianco and Enrico Colangeli, a municipal technician from Farindola, who had all been acquitted at first instance.
    Provolo received a sentence of one year and eight months for forgery and omission of official acts.
    The tragedy occurred in the mountain resort of Rigopiano in Farindola on January 18, 2017, as 40 people, including guests and staff, were inside a hotel waiting for help following extreme weather conditions and a series of earthquakes in the area.
    Most of the 29 victims were instantly crushed to death. Eleven people survived.
    Rescuers reached the site several hours after the avalanche and had to travel on foot because roads were blocked by heavy snow.
    In February 2023 a preliminary hearings judge in Pescara convicted five people and acquitted 25 others in relation to the tragedy, amid strong protests from victims' relatives in the courtroom.
    The 30 defendants, including administrators and public officials, as well as the manager and owner of the hotel, were charged in various capacities with the offences of culpable disaster, multiple culpable homicide, injuries, forgery, deception and building abuse. (ANSA).