Chasm in the parking lot of the Ospedale del Mare in Naples

Article updated to 13.08.2019

AGI – A huge chasm opened this morning around 6.45am in the parking lot of the Ospedale del Mare in Naples. The failure was accompanied by a roar that scared the staff, patients and residents of the area and feared an explosion.

Firefighters exclude a deflagration and target structural failure. The abyss swallowed 3 or 4 cars, but there are no injuries. On the site the carabinieri for the first surveys. To ensure there were no casualties, specialized dogs and drones were also employed. At the moment we are working to recover the cars.

The part where the fault occurred is adjacent to the modular hospital created as a Covid center last spring to meet the need for new intensive and sub-intensive care places, via Paciolla, towards the state highway. A sinking then away from the Covid hospital and the hospital itself. In recent days, Naples has been plagued with rains, circumstances that, given the structural fragility of the land on which the city sits, have always created abysses.

To understand the causes of failure, many evaluations will be required. At the moment, based on what AGI learns, The hypothesis of a malicious act is excluded.. Just as a reconstruction that sees an underground explosion of pipes for the transport of oxygen with the consequent subsidence of the land would be excluded.

The truth is that there was one subsidence of the ground for more than 15 meters, with tons of earth and crushed stone that damaged the electricity and water pipes, making it necessary to clear the Covid hospice due to lack of water and electricity, while the central hospital and the modular Covid hospital are fully operational thanks to the generators.

“In fact, the roar was caused by an implosion that generated an abyss of about 2000 square meters for a depth of about 20 meters,” wrote ASL Napoli 1 in a note., to which the hospital of the eastern district of Ponticelli belongs. “The main cabin power supply is currently interrupted throughout the Ospedale del Mare, but the garrison is powered by generators that guarantee the full operation of the structure and the full efficiency of the assistance activity. In the shortest possible time l “Asl Napoli 1 Centro will temporarily close the Covid Residence due to the impossibility of guaranteeing hot water and electricity. At the moment there is no element that leads us to think of a malicious act”, underlines the health company.

The hospital was the first example of funding for healthcare projects in Italy. It took more than 10 years to build, including consultations, work stoppages, refinancing and controversies. It serves a basin of 700,000 citizens of the metropolitan area and is derived from the overcrowding of the Cardarelli. The initial project, based on a hospital model designed by Renzo Piano for the Ministry of Health, included 451 beds, 18 operating rooms, a hotel for patients’ relatives, a large parking lot and a shopping center.

The estimated costs for its construction were 187 million, 57% financed with public funds and 43% through project financing. The two contracting companies, Astaldi and Osmar, had agreed to deliver the work in 2009. In reality, the works began in 2005 and progressed slowly until they stopped in 2010, following an investigation involving officials from the Region and the Authority. Sanitaria Local Napoles 1, managers and managers of companies, due to supposed differences with respect to the initial project, with the consequent increase in costs.

The Ospedale del Mare site becomes a degraded area, where waste is also spilled. In 2012, thanks to an additional endowment of around 180 million, the work was resumed and ended in 2015. At the end of 2016, the hospital was inaugurated, with the opening of the first three rooms, but it was only fully operational in 2018.