Fear in Capri, minibus goes off the road in Marina Grande.
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Minibus crashes, mayor of Capri: "It is difficult to hypothesize about the causes, perhaps a driver's illness"
Fear in Capri, scheduled bus rushes to Marina Grande.
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July 23, 2021
Flag of the City of Capri at half mast on the Town Hall as a sign of mourning for the tragic death of the young driver Emanuele Melillo, who died yesterday in the bus accident that crashed in Marina Grande. Mayor Marino Lembo and the entire administration wanted to express their heartfelt condolences to the victim's family and their closeness to the wounded, wishing them a speedy recovery.
Capri woke up having to deal with a heavy toll: one dead and 23 injured, the definitive one issued yesterday evening by the Asl Napoli 1 Centro, competent on the territory of the blue island. Of the 23 injured, 15 were transferred to Naples: 13 to the Ospedale del Mare in the Ponticelli district, two children were instead taken to the Santobono pediatric hospital. Another 8 patients, slightly injured, despite the hospitalization assessment for the observation of the consequences of the accident, refused him. Four French and Lebanese tourists were also injured.
The firefighters have been at work non-stop since late yesterday afternoon: on the island, numerous Red Helmets vehicles have been brought, including a helicopter, to try to find a solution to the removal of the vehicle, which will have to be subjected to investigations. The main objective is to remove it and release the area, to return it to the citizens, but, at the moment, this solution presents considerable operational difficulties. The area of the tragedy, therefore, remains under sequestration. The surveys on the place where the accident occurred were entrusted to the Traffic Police, under the coordination of the manager of the local police station.Yesterday it was the Operations Center of the Naples Police Headquarters, together with the 118, to coordinate the rescue andintervention of the helicopters of various police forces that dealt with the transfer of the wounded, the blood supplies for transfusions and medical equipment.
The Naples Public Prosecutor's Office is evaluating the possibility of preparing the unrepeatable investigations on the minibus directly at the scene of the accident. Among the hypotheses regarding the causes of the incident, in addition to the illness that could have hit the driver, there is also that of the mechanical failure.
Another detail being examined by the investigators is the use in service in Capri, yesterday morning, of some buses of the ATC, the island transport company, which should have remained in storage: a decision determined by a sudden malfunction of the funicular, for meet the demand for public transport which, in summer, is particularly demanding on the blue island. The appraisals on the minibus will ascertain whether the vehicle was in suitable operating and maintenance conditions.
Meanwhile, the hypothesis of an illness that would have caught Melillo while he was driving the minibus of the Atc company, which had just left Marina Grande and which, after the first two curves, was traveling the uphill road, is making its way. His death was declared yesterday on the spot, the 30-year-old allegedly suffered a heart attack. It will be the autopsy to shed light on the causes of death.
The accident
After breaking through a fence, the vehicle fell into the void, stopping against a structure that borders the 'Le Ondine' beach in Marina Grande. The toll is 23 injured, both among passengers (including 4 of French and Lebanese nationality) and among people on the street. Most of them were lightly injured and were transported to the Capilupi hospital in Capri; two are serious and two others (including a child) in very serious condition, all transported to Naples by first aid helicopter, made available by the state police and the financial police.
The vehicle made a flight of several meters along the escarpment, after having broken through the fence, ending its run against the external structures of the beach. The minibus was uphill and proceeding at normal speed. Then, suddenly, he swerved slightly to the right, then to the left and slowly broke through the barrier, falling.
Melillo would become a father in a few months.
On June 29, the immense joy: a daughter.
He had wanted to communicate it to everyone and on social networks he had posted the photo with the pregnancy test that his partner Rosaria had done.
A Neapolitan commuter who traveled to Capri every morning from the historic center, Emanuele Melillo is remembered by everyone as a sunny boy.
Full of life and strength.
The job of a driver had allowed him to fulfill a dream: to live with the woman he loved.
On social photos with her embraced in front of the Faraglioni: "I don't miss anything", he wrote only two months ago, proud with his work uniform.
Melillo was separated, had a baby and, in fact, a new pregnant partner.
Colleagues describe him as a '' playful, playful '' boy.
"He had a fixed-term contract, seasonal type - reports to Ansa Franco Chierchia, USB delegate in Atc - but since there was a shortage of staff he was able to work almost all year round also because in winter when the funicular is closed for maintenance we con the buses we provide the replacement service. So he was an experienced worker who knew the roads of the island. ''
The mayor of Capri, Marino Lembo, went to the Capilupi hospital to personally check the state of health of the injured. Lembo explains to LaPresse: "In a few hours I will be able to give more information, I cannot give partial or unverified news". Lembo then explains that "this morning the Capri funicular was closed due to a technical problem". "Faults that can happen, that's why we closed the funicular" remarks Lembo.
Lido owner: a few meters and it was a tragedy
"A few meters and it would have been a huge tragedy. The bus almost broke through the solarium where there were at least twenty people sunbathing. A miracle".
So Gemma Rocchi.
"It was 11.30, I heard a roar and I thought the road had fallen off. I looked out and saw a bus rolling down the mountain. I called for help, I ran to the place and I heard children crying. Unfortunately the driver is dead".
None of the employees of the beach and the customers were injured: "Many of them threw themselves into the sea out of fear".
Bus 🚌 of line rushes to #Capri on a beach of #MarinaGrande.
We are injured #TgrCampania #Tgr pic.twitter.com/L9lZOJBTgb
- Antonello Perillo (@anperillo) July 22, 2021
Witness relates: screaming and crying, knockout scene
A 15-year-old boy is put on a stretcher while he cries bitterly. A mother makes her way through the crowd, looking desperately for her son, fearing he may have been involved in the accident. The unfolding sirens of the ambulances that overlap as they arrive on the spot. These are the scenes in front of which rescuers and onlookers arrived this morning in Marina Grande.
Giuseppe, a local boy, one of the first to rush to the scene of the disaster, tells her: "It is something that I will hardly forget - he tells Ansa - especially the scene of the boy, he must have been 15/16 years old, screaming with pain while they were staring at him on the stretcher after having taken him out of the minibus. An image that, I do not deny, knocked me out. There were many people around, attracted by the screams and thud of the left ".
"I don't remember a tragedy like this - continues the young man - in these parts. The bus rolled until it hit the shower cubicles of the establishment, in that ditch that acts as a watershed between the free beach and the nearby private establishment. Another meter and the budget would have been even heavier. There were many people bathing - he remembers - especially today with an extremely hot day ".