Italy: Shock after civilian ruling blames L'Aquila earthquake victims
A ruling in a civil case related to the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake in Italy that killed 309 people, blaming some of the disaster's victims, has sparked shock and outrage.
Today, the Italian news agency ANSA reported that the ruling came in a lawsuit related to the payment of millions of euros in compensation filed by some relatives of 24 people who died in a building in the central province of Abruzzo early on April 6, 2009.
The judge said that these people should have left their accommodation, rather than staying indoors, after two strong earthquakes, one at 23:00, and the other at 1 am, before the big earthquake hit the area at 3:32.
As a result, the judge said, victims share the responsibility by up to 30% for this "careless" behavior, which means that compensation is reduced by an equivalent percentage.
Relatives of the victims filed a lawsuit against the heirs of the founder of the building, who has since died, due to irregularities in the way it was built.
They also sued the Ministries of Interior, Transport and Infrastructure, and the City Council for failing to properly supervise the building.
The court ruled that the blame falls on each of the ministries at 15%, and the founder of the building is responsible for 40%.
The case against the city council was dismissed.
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