Naples – It could have been yet another bloody Friday in the heart of Naples, just meters from the majestic Teatro San Carlo. Instead, two women enjoying breakfast at an outdoor café table suffered a shocking attack and fortunately only minor injuries.
The collapse occurred suddenly: the cornice of a balcony broke off from the building above, hitting the area below between Via San Carlo, the Maschio Angioino, and Piazza del Plebiscito.
“It looked like it was snowing”: witnesses' accounts
The scene described by those present is one of imminent yet unpredictable danger. "It looked like it was snowing," a still-shaken passerby recounts. The two women were sipping tea when they were hit by the stone fragments. The table they were sitting at shattered under the weight of the debris.
It was a matter of centimeters: if the heaviest pieces had hit them in the head, the outcome would have been fatal. One of the two suffered minor bruises to a leg and shoulder, requiring immediate medical attention.
The intervention of the Fire Brigade
The Fire Department responded promptly to the scene, securing the area and removing the remaining unsafe sections of the cornice to prevent further collapse. The area was cordoned off, limiting pedestrian access to a stretch usually crowded with tourists and residents, to allow for technical assessments of the building's stability.
The shadow of 2014 and the appeal to the Prime Minister
The episode reopens a wound that has never healed for the city. Just a few dozen meters away, in 2014, a frieze fell from the facade of the Galleria Umberto, killing fourteen-year-old Salvatore Giordano, who died in a heroic attempt to shield his friends.
Just last week, the Supreme Court of Cassation upheld the convictions for that tragic event, but the family's battle for dignity continues. In a heartfelt letter addressed to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Salvatore's parents denounced the lack of an official apology from the authorities: "Salvatore is not a file number," they wrote, recalling that urban safety cannot be optional, but a duty towards those who live and visit the city.
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
Comments (1)
The incident described in the article is deeply alarming. Citizen safety must always be a priority. Buildings must be better monitored to avoid such dangerous situations, which can lead to injury or worse.