Tragedy in Anguillara, in the province of Padua.
A 70-year-old, for causes under investigation, ended up with his car in a canal . An off-duty agent did not hesitate to jump into the river to save him.
He didn't succeed, perhaps due to poor visibility. And both are dead.
The firefighters searched for them for hours, even with the use of divers. First they found the car, but it was empty. In the end they identified the bodies in a semi-hidden point on the seabed, about ten meters from where the car had sunk.
The agent, the rescuers explained, was still holding the driver's body close to him, which he had evidently managed to reach and get out of the passenger compartment.
According to an initial reconstruction, the policeman was jogging near the embankment when he realized that there was a car floating in the water . He immediately raised the alarm and then dived, disappearing into the Gorzone. His cell phone was found on the shore. The person driving the car was a 70-year-old resident near the scene of the accident.
"I do not hesitate in cases like this to use the word 'hero' to define the policeman who gave his life in an attempt to save another , that of an elderly man whose car ended up in a canal - commented the president of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia -. Domenico Zorzino, this is the name of the hero, is an example of exceptional altruism and of how commitment and dedication go well beyond one's work and do not end once the ordinance uniform is removed ».
“To his family, loved ones and all his colleagues, I offer my condolences, which join those addressed to the motorist's family. Thanks to the firefighters, who carried out their work with commitment and self-sacrifice», concludes Zaia.
(Unioneonline/D)