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They have I risk his life to save that of a 26-year-old who fell into the Adige in a flood from the Pietra bridge. The heroes of the dramatic Sunday night are a water rescue firefighter. carried by the current for 16 kilometers before being recovered and rescued, and two policemen who, seeing the young man drowning, and who according to various testimonies had voluntarily thrown himself into the river, did not hesitate for a moment to go down into the water to try to bring him back to shore.
The investigations of the missing, this is a young man of Moldovan origin, have continued in the meantime without ceasing. Just as they continued throughout the day yesterday also those of identifying a second person who, at around 11:30 pm, had jumped into the river from the San Pancrazio bridge. For the Verona firefighters, it was, therefore, an extremely emotional work night that could have had an even more tragic outcome. Keeping his colleagues who did everything possible to save him for hours with bated breath was the fate of Danilo Marino, the firefighter of the aquatic rescue that, after having gone down to the river, was in turn carried away by the current. It will recover in Zevio, ten miles downstream.
THE FACTS
The operation began around 9:30 p.m. The alarm was given to 113 by a Red Cross doctor on duty at the Roman Theater and he ran towards Ponte Pietra, where the young Moldovan, sitting on the parapet, threatened to throw himself into the Adige. Once there, the boy, visibly a prisoner of alcohol, fell on his back.
The doctor had managed to grab his legs without being able to hold him. Meanwhile, two policemen had arrived at the scene.
Near the Aleardi bridge, after continuing at a certain distance, from the Nuovo bridge to the Navi bridge, the silhouette of the young man carried by the current, two policemen sHe fell into the water taking advantage of a bush, tangled at the base of the bridge, which entered the river. One of the officers managed to grab the young man by the arm, but the branch broke and the policeman lost his grip and ended up being carried away by the current for about twenty meters before being reached and rescued by firefighters. Meanwhile, one of the firefighters’ water rescuers jumped into the water, reaching and holding the fallen person for about ten minutes.
At the time everything seemed to be going well, but here is the unexpected. The young Moldovan he fought from the claw and a kind of struggle was born, a fact that further testifies to the voluntary nature of the extreme gesture. «Several times», writes in a note the provincial commander Luigi Giudice himself, «our firefighter was dragged to the bottom, until in excitement the safety rope that held the equipment operating from the ground was released. At this point the person was able to free himself and was seen disappearing into the waters of the river. Now devoid of restrictions, even the operator was swept away by the strong current that he will fight against for five hours. At 2.15 am, it was recovered by another firefighting team on the Pérez bridge in Zevio, after having traveled about 16 kilometers in the water and passed the Boschetto and San Giovanni Lupatoto dams. A tough test, passed thanks to the equipment provided and training in river techniques.
THANKS FROM THE MINISTER
Once rescued, Marino was treated for mild hypothermia. Yesterday morning he was discharged from Borgo Trento hospital. Marino called Minister for relations with the Parliament Federico D’Incà, who wanted to congratulate him personally. The same did the undersecretary Inside Carlo Sibilia: «It was moving to hear in his hands how crucial the practical training carried out was to face this type of situation. He is one of many brave operators who, with contempt for danger, did not hesitate to expose themselves to obvious risk.
For now, there is no trace of the young man who fell from Ponte Pietra. But, late at night, there was a second alarm. Around 11:30 p.m., a second person fell, this also seems to be a voluntary gesture, on the Adige from the San Pancrazio bridge, at a point where the rapids and the current did not allow recovery despite the immediate intervention of several teams. firefighters who also worked aboard inflatable boats. The search for the two missing persons also continued with the help of drones and diving equipment.
Meanwhile, the interventions carried out by fire brigade teams due to bad weather starting at 3.30 pm on Saturday, August 29.
THE HYDROCOSTUME
To save the life of Danilo Marino, the brave water rescue firefighter, dragged by the flooding current of the Adige for 16 kilometers -from the Aleardi bridge to the section that runs under the Pérez bridge in Zevio- together with his companions who have lived hours of trepidation and anguish before he could finally be rescued, was theidrocostume He dressed.
Equipment that allows the operator to be completely isolated from the water and helps to float even in extreme situations, such as those on Sunday nights. The parts that cover the shoulders, chest, back and arms are in high visibility orange. It is used to carry out surface operations in low temperature or polluted waters.
Marino had jumped into the Adige to try to save the twenty-six-year-old Moldovan who jumped off the Pietra bridge. The latter, however, did not wish to be saved, so much so that, freeing himself from the rescuer’s grip, he had disconnected the safety grip that held him tied to shore. Then the force of the current prevailed. At that moment the teams on land began to follow the colleague in sight, anticipating his passage from the different bridges that dot the river course. I also used to keep an eye on him drones.
The problem, however, was being able reach it and secure it. Operation extremely complicated by the conditions of the river, with currents in constant change of direction and that repeatedly sucked the firefighter to the bottom.
Five hours of anguish all the more dramatic by the constant, sometimes desperate, requests for help from the aquatic rescuer to colleagues on land. Two teams with rubber boats also came down to help him. Thanks to his skill, the firefighter was able to overcome two artificial barriers unscathed, at Boschetto and at San Giovanni Lupatoto. There, due to the violence of the jump, he had also lost his life jacket. When there are floods from the Adige, both dams open. Otherwise, Marino would have risked being crushed by the current against one of the bars. After a five-hour odyssey, Marino was put on board an inflatable boat in Zevio, near the Pérez bridge, at a point where the river widens and slows its course. The sweet spot, then proceed to rescue.
Enrico Santi (with the collaboration of Chiara Bazzanella)
