Citizens of Ravanusa, a village of 10 thousand inhabitants in the Agrigento area, thought of a bomb when around 8.30 pm on Saturday they heard a very violent explosion. Dozens took to the streets in terror, but soon realized that the roar was due to the burst of a pipe from the methane pipeline which razed a building in via Trilussa to the ground, also involving two other buildings, causing a fire. There are not yet certain numbers of the people involved, but at the moment they are 12 people missing, including three children and a pregnant woman.
Carabinieri, firefighters and ambulances arrived at the site of the explosion. On the one hand, attempts are being made to permanently tame the flames, with the electricity that has been removed throughout the area to allow the rescue teams to intervene, on the other hand we are preparing to help any injured.
The testimonies of those present speak of an area, the one affected by the explosion, which resembles a battlefield, with bewildered people wandering among the clouds of dust raised by the explosion and pieces of rubble, fixtures and furniture scattered on the streets: “Mamma mia, mamma mia, a disaster,” someone says. While the mayor of the small Sicilian town, Carmelo D’Angelo, appealed with a video on Facebook: “There has been a disaster, anyone with tankers and mechanical vehicles can give us a hand. Anyone with shovels and bulldozers come and help, ”he begged.
It is not yet clear what are the reasons that led to the explosion of the pipeline, but at the moment the prosecutor of Agrigento, Luigi Patronaggio, responsible for the investigation, declared that he was thinking only and exclusively of the emergency relief: “This is the moment for help. Tomorrow morning, when the special team of firefighters from Palermo will intervene, the Prosecutor’s Office will also intervene. At the moment we have news of missing people, we have to wait and understand ”.
Three teams of volunteers (Procivis, Auxiliary Coast Guard and Red Cross) reached Ravanusa for the rescue, the mayor of Licata, Pino Galanti, said. Also the head of the regional department of Regional Civil Protection, Salvo Cocina, is reaching the country and has asked the rescue teams of the Civil Protection, the Fire Brigade and voluntary organizations to participate in the search for the missing. The regional civil protection says that the flames have been extinguished but “gas pockets of the city network prevent safe access to the rubble”.