Napoli – The Naples Public Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into the explosion that yesterday evening caused the death of a 57-year-old man and injured 4 other people, including a woman hospitalized in serious conditions at the Ospedale del Mare.
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The very strong explosion, which started from a gas cylinder depot and was described by residents as “a bomb”, shattered the silence of Via Peppino De Filippo, in the old town of Naples, near Via Foria, last night.
The victim is Giovanni Scala 57 years old, brother-in-law of the owner of the restaurant “da Corrado” which is located nearby. His body was extracted from the rubble late at night while the firefighters continued to work to secure the area. Investigations will now begin to establish the causes and responsibilities.
The explosion caused damage to the building with two uninhabitable apartments, damage to the nearby restaurant “The daughter of the sailor” and in particular to the new premises of the structure that was due to open in a few days but also to the premises on the upper floor of the VIP restaurant of Giuseppe Scicchitano, son of Assunta Pacifico.
Residents' testimonies: "It looked like an attack, a bomb"
The testimonies of the residents are dramatic and full of terror. “I was in my office, I was doing some paperwork, there were clients and my daughter was there too. Suddenly, I heard a very loud bang and everything went black, I could hear my daughter crying, screaming,” says Maria Carmela, 40, whose office is in the same building, separated from the warehouse only by a door.
The woman, luckily closing the door at that moment, miraculously survived: "suddenly we couldn't understand anything anymore".
Denise, 26, who lives in the building opposite – which suffered damage, especially to the balconies on the first floor – describes the scene with words that evoke a war scenario: “I heard a bang, very strong. A bang as if it were a bomb, the whole building shook, all the windows. I thought of war, of the NATO base, because it was something that can’t be described”.
Denise's mother, Nunzia, adds: "A violent explosion, very strong. We live on the other side of the building and from there we saw the smoke and then a huge cloud, everything went white. You couldn't see anymore. Like New Year's Eve."
Everyone agrees in describing an explosion that was too powerful to have been caused by a single cylinder, and the faces of the witnesses are marked by fear, the inevitable tension of having felt that shock wave “suddenly in the stomach”.
The Mayor's condolences: "Ascertain responsibilities"
The current toll is one dead and four injured, including a woman in critical condition, but the fear is that it could have been "significantly worse".
The mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, expressed his “deep sorrow for the death caused by the collapse near via Foria”. In a message on X (formerly Twitter), he declared: “As an Administration we are close to the victim’s family. Now the responsibilities for the explosion must be ascertained, the safety of citizens must always be a priority”.
Article published on 26 June 2025 - 07:22
