Premier Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday
said she was "pained" by the collapse overnight of a balcony in
a 'Sail' apartment building of Naples' Scampia district in which
two people were killed and 13 wounded, including seven children,
two of whom are in critical condition.
"In this hour of pain, my condolences go to the victims'
families together with a thought of closeness for the wounded
and their dear ones", the prime minister wrote on social media,
thanking firefighters for their "prompt" intervention and "those
who are cooperating in rescue operations".
The victims are a 29-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman.
Naples Mayor Gaetano Manfredi on Tuesday announced a day of
mourning on the day of the victims' funeral
Health officials at the Santobono hospital in Naples said two of
the children injured in the incident are in very serious
condition.
The two kids, aged seven and four, are critically ill due to
multiple head injuries.
They are being treated in the intensive care unit of the
Santobono.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have opened an investigation into the
collapse.
Naples State attorneys are waiting for the first technical
results of inspections following the collapse, investigative
sources said.
The 800 residents - including 300 children - of the Vela
Celeste (Sky Blue Sail) building where the collapse took place
have in the meantime been evacuated.
The civil protection has set up tents to aid the evacuees.
In Scampia, several other 'Sails' apartment buildings have been
torn down over their state of decay in the crime-ridden
district.
A 'restyling' of the area, which is trying to make a civic
comeback after years of being identified with the Camorra mafia
and drug pushing, has started and the municipal administration
announced in April renovation work on the 'Vela Celeste' to be
funded under the Piano Periferie (suburbs plan) with some 18
million euros.
The Sails were an iconic backdrop in the hit Camorra TV show
Gomorra (Gomorrah), based on Roberto Saviano's expose' of the
same name.
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