Italy: A hot summer in Rome, disfigured by rubbish and faced with a series of fires

A photo taken on June 15, 2022 in Rome's Centocelle district shows overflowing rubbish bins, as the Italian capital grapples with a new garbage emergency, made worse by the heat.

AFP - THERESE CRISEO

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

In the grip of a record heat wave, which should last all summer according to meteorologists, the Eternal City looks like an almost incurable patient.

Open-air rubbish is now a chronic symptom, including in the historic center, while fires break out in the city.  

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With our correspondent in Italy,

Due to the lack of an effective waste treatment system, the Roman administration was unable to get rid of the rubbish. 

So, we get used, or not, to slalom between the mounds of garbage that litter the streets and are the delight of gulls, rats and wild boars.

In this torrid summer, the evils that afflict the Eternal City and its surroundings do not stop there.

Since the end of June, the firefighters have intervened on numerous occasions to fight against the fire. 

A large #fire broke out this afternoon in #Rome in the Via Casilina area (reportedly in an auto scrapyard).

The dense cloud of smoke is visible throughout most of the city.

#Roma #Incendio pic.twitter.com/Ae5zQmgfh6

— Mary Shovlain (@maryshovlain) July 9, 2022

One of the five most serious fires dates back to July 9.

Neighborhoods located in the southeast of Rome were engulfed in flames and thick pestilential smoke.

This fire started in car scrapyards and the criminal origin is not excluded.

Luckily, there were no injuries, but residents had to close all their windows for 24 hours.

The public prosecutor's office in Rome has opened several investigations to verify if there was not the hand of the mafia behind all the injuries inflicted on one of the cradles of Western civilization. 

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