Tragedy in Naples, the balcony of the Vele di Scampia collapses: 3 dead and 12 injured

The toll of the collapse of the gallery in the Vela Celeste in Scampia, Naples, worsens. According to data provided by Prefect Michele di Bari, there are three dead and 12 injured, including seven children. A 29-year-old man, who died instantly, his 53-year-old mother, and a 35-year-old woman, who died on arrival at the hospital, were the victims of the balcony collapse in Scampia. The seven children involved (13 injured in total) are between 2 and 8 years old. For them traumas, fractures and contusions. The Ccs, the rescue coordination centre, was immediately activated. In the prefecture in Naples, he took stock of the situation in order to manage operations to secure the area and assist the homeless. He was flanked by the mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, with whom di Bari was engaged in an on-site inspection, and all the components of the rescue coordination centre. The prefect ordered security and anti-shooting services by the police, as the building had been evacuated, while the mayor of Naples organised social services assistance on site.

Moments of terror in the late evening of Monday 22 July in Scampia. The collapse of a connecting gallery in the Vela Celeste, a social housing estate in the district, caused the tragedy. The collapse that occurred on the third floor also involved the second and first floor galleries in the fall. The fire brigade, after digging through the rubble, completed the evacuation of the upper floors while stability checks are underway in the affected part of the building. The police have opened an investigation into the incident.

No hypothesis is ruled out, the most accredited being that of a structural collapse, but to be certain, the fire brigade will have to complete its checks. Immediately after the collapse, which occurred around 11 p.m., many people poured into the streets amid fears of new collapses and apprehension for the people involved. Numerous emergency vehicles rushed to the scene with several ambulances transferring the injured to hospital. The Vela Celeste is one of the last ones standing in Scampia after the previous demolition of the other Sails decided to give a more dignified accommodation to the residents and erase the mark of Gomorrah from the neighbourhood.

Just last April, the Manfredi administration's urban regeneration plan for the Vele of Scampia was announced, with the redevelopment of Vela B (the so-called 'Vela Celeste') financed by the Periferie Plan (with funding of around EUR 18 million). For this Vela, the project envisages the redevelopment of the common areas, the garage floor and porticoes, the vertical connections, and the renovation of the horizontal roofing surfaces. An intervention that represents another piece in the complex mosaic of the regeneration of the Vele of Scampia, beginning the recovery of the only Vela that will remain standing as a symbol of the past, of the district and of the battles of the area "for the redemption that this community has led", as the City of Naples announced at the launch of this plan.

The Sails, seven in all, were built between 1962 and 1975 to a design by architect Franz Di Salvo. The project also included aggregation centres and communal spaces, a children's play area and other collective facilities. A 'socialisation nucleus' that was never realised, contributing to the failure of the project as it was originally conceived. And over the years the Vele became increasingly synonymous with degradation, underworld crime and drug dealing. Then came the decision to radically revitalise the neighbourhood with the demolition of most of them, the redevelopment of some of them, and the destination in one of them of a number of medicine degree courses.