Hotel Rigopiano, the avalanche was not caused by the earthquakes: first sentence on the tragedy of the resort

The

in Farindola (Pescara) on 18 January 2017, causing the

,

that hit Abruzzo that day.

This is what was established, as reported by Tgr Abruzzo, by the sixth section of

, which rejected the

brought against an insurance company by the company that owns the hotel, an appeal which invoked, in fact, the causal link between the earthquake and the avalanche with regard to a policy relating only to earthquake damage.

In those days, in fact, we had just returned from the long

which, from August to October, had affected all of central Italy, from Amatrice to Accumoli, from Norcia to Reatino, causing the strong earthquakes that caused a total of 299 victims.

Yet, they were also days of

and heavy snowfalls, which created in that part of Abruzzo, an area of ​​high mountains not far from the top of the Gran Sasso, phenomena of landslides and avalanches, such as the one that overwhelmed the structure at the site of the tragedy.

The

, close to a particularly steep and looming mountain ridge, therefore made it easier for the fatal circumstances to occur.

Circumstances that even in the absence of earthquakes – as actually happened – would have occurred.

Today is the first sentence of a court on the natural massacre of the resort.

In particular, the experts appointed by the judge - the seismologist Paolo Gasperini and the snow expert Massimiliano Barbolini - supported the thesis of

in their technical consultancy , excluding that the avalanche was caused by the earthquake.

“We are happy because five years after the tragedy of Rigopiano there is a first sentence from a court of the Italian Republic - says the Committee of the relatives of the victims -, it concerns the causal link between the earthquake and the avalanche, a very important aspect debated above all in the ongoing criminal trial and being examined by the consultants appointed by the Gup Sarandrea.

A first piece of justice in memory of the victims of Rigopiano five years after the tragedy.