Brandizzo massacre, 5 workers run over and killed on the tracks: one year later the tragedy is being investigated

One year has passed since the Brandizzo tragedy, in which five workers lost their lives when they were run over by a train travelling on the Turin-Milan railway line. On the night between 30 and 31 August 2023, Kevin Laganà, Michael Zanera, Giuseppe Sorvillo, Giuseppe Aversa and Giuseppe Saverio Lombardo were engaged in a series of works along the tracks when they were surprised by a train passing by on its way to the depot, and travelling at around 160 kilometres per hour. For their death, the Ivrea Public Prosecutor's Office immediately started investigations - not yet concluded - that led to the registration of 15 people in the register of suspects. The tragedy caused great emotion throughout the country. The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, called it 'an outrage' to die at work, 'an outrage to the values of coexistence'.

Michele Zanera was 34 years old and had worked for Sigifer since 2019 as a welder. A big fan of social media, he loved to tell his story through videos posted on Tik Tok, including pictures documenting his work. Kevin Laganà had recently turned 22 and was the youngest victim. Of Sicilian origin, he was very close to his family and also often posted videos and photos online showing him with his father and a niece. In contrast, he was 43 years old Giuseppe Sorvillo. The father of two small children, aged 7 and 9, Sorvillo lived in Brandizzo but was originally from Capua. Among his passions were sports, travelling and mountain trips. The oldest of the group was Saverio Giuseppe Lombardo, aged 52. Originally from Marsala, from where he had emigrated in 2001, Lombardo was married and the father of a son. Finally Giuseppe Aversa, 49, from Chivasso. The man had been living for about ten years in Borgo d'Ale, in a renovated farmhouse, where he had moved to take care of his mother.

From what has emerged from the investigation so far, it appears that the workers had opened the construction site before receiving official authorisation. The go-ahead was allegedly given by the foreman of the Italian railway network despite the fact that the Rfi movement manager had informed them that a train was running late. The persons under investigation for the tragedy are Antonio Massa, then head of the Rfi escort, and Andrea Gibin Girardin, site manager of Sigifer, the company in charge of carrying out maintenance work. For them, the charges are railway disaster and murder with intent. Sigifer's general manager Franco Sirianni, technical director Cristian Geraci, legal representative Simona Sirianni and partner Daniele Sirianni are also under investigation. For them, the charges are disaster and manslaughter, the same as for two Rfi managers Gaetano Pitisci and Andrea Bregolato. Three managers of Clf (the Bologna-based company that had subcontracted the work to Sigifer), including managing director Enrico Peola, were also entered in the register of suspects on the same charges.

A series of initiatives is planned to remember the five workers on the first anniversary of the tragedy. On 30 August, promoted by the Municipality of Brandizzo, there will be an official commemoration, starting at 9.30 a.m. at the tombstone in the station square, followed by a conference with MP Chiara Gribaudo, president of the Chamber of Deputies' commission of enquiry on working conditions, and the trade unions. The photographic exhibition 'Morire sui binari' (Dying on the tracks) will also be inaugurated and will be open to the public from 2 to 13 September in the atrium of the Town Hall. On the evening of 30 August, after mass in the Church of St James the Apostle, a torchlight procession to the station will start. On 31 August at the Brandizzo station, on the other hand, there will be a demonstration organised by a number of trade unions, including Cobas, Usb and Cub, and workers' associations, 'in memory,' says the poster, 'of five workmates and colleagues killed by a contract system that despises human life. Another initiative is the Week of Safe Work, promoted by the association Sicurezza e Lavoro, the Municipality of Brandizzo and the trade unions FeneaUil, Filca Cisl and Fillea Cgil. On 8 September, Kevin Laganà's friends and relatives are organising a day of sports and meetings at the Ferrante club in Vercelli. On the programme is a tournament for children footballers. Everyone will have a shirt with the image of the young worker who died in Brandizzo and the inscription 'Kevin lives in each of us'.