Italy on Monday marked the 60th
anniversary of the Vajont dam disaster in which almost 2,000
people lost their lives.
"The tragedy that took place here carries the weight of grave
human responsibility, of very bad choices denounced by attentive
people even before the disaster occurred," said President of the
Republic Sergio Mattarella at a commemoration at the dam where
on in the night of October 9, 1963, a landslide fell from Mount
Toc above the reservoir into the basin, triggering a huge wave
that destroyed the lakeside towns of Erto and Casso before
passing over the crown of the dam and sweeping through the town
of Longarone in the valley below.
Officially 1,910 people including 487 minors under the age of 15
died in the disaster, which was preceded by numerous warnings of
impending danger that were largely ignored.
"We are here to commemorate people, those who died on October 9,
1963, the survivors, those who had to leave their homes and
those who struggled strenuously to rebuild them, to remain
here," said Mattarella, speaking of the "silent monuments to the
victims, those buried in the cemeteries, those buried forever in
the riverbeds, on the mountainsides: women, men, children. Five
hundred children".
"Sixty years on, our consciences, continue to be disturbed and
challenged by these torments," he added.
The president cited the recent testimony for General Giampaolo
Agosto, in 1963 a young officer in the Sixth Mountain Artillery
Regiment who intervened with his men in the hours immediately
after the tragedy, who recalled how in the face of so much
horror, his soldiers had an empty look in their eyes.
"Let us strive, today, to imagine ourselves mirrored first of
all in the eyes of those who are no longer here; who, when the
Alpine troops arrived, were no longer there. In the eyes of the
rescuers. In the stern looks of the survivors. In the eyes of
those who are here today, custodians of these territories.
In this way, "we can say that the Republic has not forgotten,"
he concluded.
Premier Giorgia Meloni also remembered the tragedy in a message
on social media.
"Today we remember the tragic Vajont disaster, a deep wound in
our history. Almost 2,000 people were killed, entire villages
were swept away," said Meloni.
"It is a tragedy that could and should have been avoided," she
added.
"60 years on, the memory of Vajont remains an admonition for us
all. We must not forget the cost of human irresponsibility on
that terrible night of 9 October 1963 to a community that was
fully aware of the risks, but was not listened to," continued
Meloni.
"In memory of that terrible tragedy, we are committed to
ensuring that similar events are never repeated in our country.
"In memory of the Vajont victims, we will continue to work for a
safer Italy," she said.
The inhabitants of Longarone and other villages in the Piave
valley below the Vajont dam on the border of Veneto and Friuli
Venezia Giulia had just four minutes to try to find safety after
the landslide on Mount Toc, which locals call 'the walking
mountain' due to its tendency to experience landslides.
"For us it was like the end of the world. An event such as that
cannot be described. Only those who were there can understand,"
said Italo Filippin, 79, the former mayor of Erto and Casso.
"Only at dawn did we understand what had happened," he added.
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