A trip to the emergency medical service, an argument with the doctor on duty, a call for assistance from the Carabinieri, and then the sudden drive back along the coastal road. These are the final hours of Michele Pirozzi, 29, and his girlfriend Maria Magliocco, 24, both from Capaccio-Paestum, who are now the focus of investigators' attention.
The tragedy occurred Friday evening in Montecorice, along provincial road 267 that runs along the coast. The car they were traveling in plunged about 200 meters down a cliff after impacting with a van, landing on the rocks below. The two young people had no escape.
But it is above all the sequence of events immediately preceding the crash that represents one of the key points of the investigation.
The transition to the medical guard
According to what has been reconstructed so far, shortly before the accident the two fiancés had gone to the Montecorice medical emergency room because one of them had felt ill.
During the visit, an argument arose with the doctor on duty, necessitating the intervention of the police.
However, before the arrival of the military, the two young men reportedly left the health facility and resumed their journey.
They reportedly took the provincial road toward Capaccio-Paestum. Shortly afterward, likely to retrieve something they'd forgotten, they turned around and headed back toward Agnone Cilento, the seaside village where the 29-year-old's mother was born, where they'd spent the evening. It was during this return trip that the accident occurred.
The crash and the flight into the embankment
The Volkswagen Polo driven by Pirozzi collided with a Citroen Jumper van along the Ripe Rosse section of the Via del Mare.
After the impact, the car broke through the safety railing and fell almost two hundred meters into the void, stopping on the rocks.
The bodies of the two young men, thrown from the vehicle, were recovered by rescuers after about three hours of searching.
One element that could have an impact on the reconstruction of the dynamics is the absence, according to initial findings, of skid marks on the asphalt.
Autopsy to clarify the causes of death
The autopsy ordered by the Vallo della Lucania Public Prosecutor's Office will shed light on several questions. The examination will be performed this afternoon at San Luca Hospital.
The forensic examination will have to precisely establish the causes of death and verify whether the two young people died instantly due to the impact or as a result of falling onto the rocks.
Not only that, the prosecutor also ordered toxicology tests to determine whether the victim had consumed alcohol or drugs in the hours leading up to the tragedy.
These tests are considered essential to reconstruct the psychophysical state of the two boys and clarify the context in which the final moments before the crash took place.
The van driver tested positive for drugs
Investigators are also examining the position of the driver of the van involved in the collision.
The man, a 42-year-old pastry chef who was returning home after work, suffered minor injuries and tested positive for drugs, but negative for alcohol. Counter-analysis will now confirm or deny this finding.
He reportedly told investigators that the car carrying the two young men was traveling at high speed and that, to avoid a head-on collision, he was forced to make a sudden maneuver that took him to the edge of the road.
It will be up to the Carabinieri of the Agropoli Company to clarify the precise dynamics of the accident.
Reading the article it seems to me that there are still too many things to clarify, not everything adds up, the medical guard is described in a confusing way and then the police arrive but they leave quickly without explanation. The autopsy will tell but many doubts remain about the speed, the lack of braking and the psychophysical condition of the young people.