2013 Monteforte Irpino bus crash
| 2013 Monteforte Irpino bus crash | |
|---|---|
| Details | |
| Date | 28 July 2013 |
| Location | near Monteforte Irpino, Italy |
| Statistics | |
| Deaths | 40 |
| Injured | 8 |
Forty people were killed and another eight were injured in a bus crash near the town of Monteforte Irpino in Italy on 28 July 2013.
Accident
The bus was carrying pilgrims to their home from a visit to a Catholic shrine and fell nearly 100 metres (330 ft) feet off a bridge east of Naples. The bus carried nearly 50 passengers.[1][2][3][4][5]
Dynamics of the accident
At about 19:40 a Volvo B12 Echo coach owned by the travel agency Mondo Travel, coming from Telese Terme and Pietrelcina, entered the A16 motorway via the RA9 motorway link in Benevento heading toward Naples and Pozzuoli. On board were 48 people (47 passengers and the driver, Ciro Lametta). During the journey, after passing the Avellino East and Avellino West toll booths, the bus began climbing in the territory of Monteforte Irpino when many passengers heard strange noises coming from inside the vehicle and alerted the driver, who nevertheless continued driving. After the Quattro Cupe tunnel in Monteforte Irpino, at about 20:30, a universal joint in the drive shaft broke, severing the braking system. At that point the bus became uncontrollable and could no longer brake in any way.[6]
The coach began swerving, striking several cars and commercial vehicles that were stuck in motorway traffic because of roadworks. It then collided with the guardrail of the Acqualonga viaduct. The driver attempted in every possible way to bring the vehicle back onto the roadway, but after striking other vehicles the bus hit the viaduct a second time. The outer Jersey barriers (which, after several inspections and court rulings, were later found to be unsafe) failed to withstand the impact of the bus, allowing it to fall from the viaduct more than 30 metres into the valley below.[7][8]
Victims
Thirty-eight bodies and ten injured people were extracted from the wreckage of the bus, including all the children who had been on board. Two of the injured later died from their wounds: Simona and Silvana Del Giudice (the youngest among the victims; the youngest died on 6 August at only 16 years of age) and Salvatore Di Bonito, aged 54, who died on 7 September.[9][10]
The state funerals of the first 38 victims were held at the Pozzuoli sports arena on 31 July 2013 in the presence of the highest offices of the Italian state. The victims were:
- Immacolata Ambrosio
- Anna Acquarulo, 64
- Assunta Artiaco, 61
- Gennaro Artiaco, 74
- Carolina Basile, 58
- Giovanni Basile, 53
- Salvatore Bruno, 67
- Luciano Caiazzo, 40
- Mario Caiazzo, 54
- Maria Carannante, 59
- Raffaela Chiocca, 72
- Giovanni Conte, 50
- Maria Luisa Corsale, 63
- Antonio Del Giudice, 50
- Silvana Del Giudice, 22
- Simona Del Giudice, 16
- Teresa Delle Cave, 68
- Salvatore Di Bonito, 54
- Filomena Di Paolo, 50
- Gennaro Esposito, 58
- Agnese Illiano, 73
- Barbara Illiano, 63
- Olga Iodice, 72
- Elisabetta Iuliano, 78
- Ciro Lametta, 44[N 1][11]
- Giuseppina Lucignano, 82
- Anna Mirelli, 48
- Irene Musto, 74
- Procolo Paone, 84
- Pasquale Parrella, 62
- Anna Raiola, 83
- Teresa Restivo, 32
- Luigia Rocco
- Antonietta Rusciano, 48
- Maria Rosaria Rusciano, 51
- Maria Elisabetta Russo, 64
- Alfonso Terracciano, 68
- Salvatore Testa, 88
- Vincenza Trincone, 49
- Biagio Vallefuoco, 54
Verdicts
First-instance verdict
After five and a half years, in 2019 the court of Avellino delivered the first-instance verdicts for the 15 defendants involved in the Acqualonga viaduct crash trial.[12]
Mondo Travel company
- Gennaro Lametta: 12 years, confirmed as a conviction.
Naples Motor Vehicle Authority
- Antonietta Ceriola: requested 9 years, sentenced to 8 years.
- Vittorio Saulino: requested 6 years and 6 months, later acquitted.
- CEO Giovanni Castellucci: requested 10 years, initially acquitted (later sentenced by the Court of Cassation on 10 April 2025 to 6 years in prison).
- Section director Paolo Berti: requested 10 years, sentenced to 5 years and 6 months.
- Former general director Riccardo Mollo: requested 10 years, acquitted.
- Manager Michele Renzi: requested 10 years, sentenced to 5 years.
- Manager Nicola Spadavecchia: requested 10 years, sentenced to 6 years.
- Manager Bruno Gerardi: requested 10 years, sentenced to 5 years.
- Manager Michele Maietta: requested 10 years, acquitted.
- Manager Gianluca De Franceschi: requested 10 years, sentenced to 6 years.
- Manager Gianni Marrone: requested 10 years, sentenced to 5 years and 6 months.
- Manager Massimo Fornaci: requested 10 years, acquitted.
- Manager Marco Perna: requested 10 years, acquitted.
- Manager Antonio Sorrentino: requested 10 years, acquitted.
Appeals and Court of Cassation
In 2023, between July and September, the Avellino court delivered the appeal verdicts, confirming the sentences previously imposed and confirming the prison sentence for Gennaro Lametta. In detail, Giovanni Castellucci, former CEO of Autostrade per l'Italia, was sentenced to six years after having been acquitted at first instance. Other company executives, including Mollo, Fornaci, and Perna, also received six-year sentences. However, the sentences for Spadavecchia and Berti were reduced to five years, while Marrone, De Franceschi, and Gerardi were sentenced to three years each. The legal case concluded with the confirmation of all convictions by the Court of Cassation on 11 April 2025.[13] The convictions concerned several executives of Autostrade per l'Italia, two officials of the Motorizzazione Civile of Naples, and especially Gennaro Lametta, considered the main person responsible for the failure to regularize the vehicle for road circulation.[14][15][16]
Notes
- ^ He was the bus driver and the brother of Gennaro Lametta, the owner responsible for the vehicle.
See also
References
- ^ "Death toll rises to 39 in Italy coach crash". Xinhua News Agency. 29 July 2013. Archived from the original on August 3, 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ "Italy coach crash: At least 37 dead near Avellino". BBC News. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ "At least 36 pilgrims die in bus crash in southern Italy". CNN. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ "36 people killed in Italy coach crash - rescue services". Voice of Russia. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "Italy Crash Kills at Least 38 as Bus Plunges into Ravine". Bloomberg.com. 29 July 2013.
- ^ Redazione (28 August 2013). "Tragedia Monteforte Irpino. Ciro Lametta un eroe: dall'incidente probatorio sul bus emerge che l'autista ha fatto tutto il possibile per evitare il disastro. Aveva l'impianto frenante fuori uso". Corriere CE (in Italian). Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- ^ "VIDEO - A tre anni dalla strage di Acqualonga la ricostruzione dell'incidente da parte della polizia". Il Quotidiano del Sud (in Italian). Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ Enrica Tancioni (28 July 2023). "Dieci anni fa la tragedia del viadotto Acqualonga, 40 le vittime". POP - Il Giornale Popolare (in Italian). Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ "Tragedia del bus, salgono a 39 le vittime (FOTO)". HuffPost Italia (in Italian). 6 August 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ "Strage del bus in Irpinia: le vittime salgono a 40". Today (in Italian). Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ Redazione (30 July 2013). "Vitulazio. L'autista del pullman finito giù nella scarpata ad Avellino era originario della cittadina vitulatina". Corriere CE (in Italian). Retrieved 29 July 2025.
- ^ "Strage Acqualonga: 12 anni a Lametta, proprietario del bus precipitato nel vuoto. Assolto Castellucci, Ad Autostrade". Orticalab (in Italian). Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "Viadotto di Acqualonga: La Sentenza della Corte d'Appello di Napoli confermata dalla Corte di Cassazione".
- ^ "Strage dell'Acqualonga: emessa la sentenza nel processo d'Appello". AvellinoToday (in Italian). Retrieved 18 January 2024.
- ^ "Strage di Acqualonga, in Appello la condanna a 6 anni dell'ex ad di Autostrade Castellucci". Lab TV (in Italian). 28 September 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
- ^ "La sentenza completa dell'anno 2025 in PDF" (PDF).