Sarno. 22 years have passed since May 5, 1998 when the flood indelibly marked Sarno, Bracigliano and Siano, San Felice a Cancello (Caserta) and Quindici (Avellino). The first landslides caused by the bad weather that raged in Campania were reported that Tuesday afternoon, then everything was swept away.

LThe Sarno flood caused 160 victims, 137 of whom were in Sarno alone and 11 in Quindici. On that day, about a hundred mudslides and water moved downstream in the crater area, covering several square kilometers and at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour, covering the entire Sarno river basin, even touching Irpinia. Thousands were displaced. The Villa Malta hospital, a structure perched on a hill, from a health facility that was beginning to receive the first wounded, soon turned into a tomb, invaded by mud and debris. Doctors and nurses died in Villa Malta that evening. In memory of those victims, the hospital built later is called 'Martiri di Villa Malta'. 22 years later, the memory is indelible for those who experienced it, but the wound of the mountain speaks every time bad weather rages on Sarno. The one who paid the price, in terms of the proceedings, was the then mayor of Sarno, Gerardo Basile, who was sentenced by the Supreme Court to five years in prison, with confirmation of the sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal of Naples, guilty of negligent conduct for not having ordered the evacuation of the population on the night between 4 and 5 May 98. Today, at 19 pm, in the cathedral of Episcopio, a mass will be celebrated behind closed doors, due to the coronavirus emergency, to remember the 137 victims, together with the other parish priests of the Forania of Sarno. The mayor of Sarno Giuseppe Canfora will then lay a wreath of flowers in Viale Margherita, in front of the monument that commemorates the tragic events of May 98.

Article published on May 5, 2020 - 16:24 pm