The Liberation Day ceremony in Lanciano had just ended. People were walking out of Piazza Pace toward Piazza Plebiscito, where the commemorations were to go on, when a car came down the slope of Via del Torrione much too fast.
It was about 10:30 on Friday, April 25. The driver, an 80-year-old man, was at the wheel of a grey Lancia Musa. Telesirio reported that the car most likely went out of control because he fell ill. It struck a parked vehicle first, then ran into three people from the march organised by Anpi in Lanciano, in the province of Chieti.
One of the three, an 81-year-old man, died. Ticinolibero described him as a retired carabiniere who was thrown into the air and landed hard on the asphalt; Telesirio gave his name as Gabriele Mastrangelo. The other two were hurt. According to Ticinolibero one of them, a woman, was badly injured and taken straight to hospital, while the rest of those caught up in it suffered less serious harm.
The square filled quickly with emergency crews. Carabinieri, police, firefighters and ambulances of the Red Cross and the Croce Gialla arrived, and so did the 118 emergency helicopter. Leggo recorded the first estimate of the toll as at least one dead and two injured, and that is the figure Telesirio repeated.
Why the car left the road has not been established beyond that early guess about a sudden illness. Ticinolibero noted that, at the time it wrote, the reasons for what it called a mad dash were unclear. A morning meant for memory and celebration became, in the words of that outlet, a nightmare scene.
Sources
- Auto sulla folla dopo la manifestazione per il 25 aprile (Leggo)
- 25 aprile di sangue a Lanciano (Ticinolibero)
- Lanciano: auto sulla folla (Telesirio)
