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.
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