« Alberto Rizzotto was proceeding at a speed of 6 km per hour at the gap corresponding to what was defined as the hole in the guardrail. When the bus began to skid the speed was 36 km per hour ."
This was reported by Massimo Fiorese , CEO of "La Linea", on the Mestre massacre which cost the lives of 21 people.
Data confirms, the bus was moving very slowly.
Rizzotto's first employment contract with the company La Linea, now the main private group for road passenger transport in Veneto, dates back to 2014. He was an expert and healthy driver : what happened to explain the progressive steering of the vehicle to the right to the point of sweeping away the guardrail like a dry branch and flying to the foot of the overpass, it remains a mystery that perhaps only an autopsy will be able to clarify.
Fiorese rules out falling asleep: « He had only started his shift two hours earlier, around 6pm . He picked up people and was taking them back to the campsite. 16 of them had booked the ride but there was room and evidently someone got on board without warning.
Meanwhile, the Venice Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating multiple road homicides. There are no people under investigation, the investigation revolves around two elements: the autopsy of the driver , to understand whether an illness caused him to lose control of the vehicle, and that too low guardrail, on which an expert opinion has been ordered .
A "hole" was discovered in the guardrail, actually a service gap of about one and a half meters present on the side barrier, an element that can be found on all road structures dating back to a few decades ago.
«On the guardrail - explained the prosecutor Bruno Cherchi - we will carry out all the necessary activities, starting with a technical consultancy, as soon as we have found the suitable person to do it. Technical, not legal, knowledge is needed. For now we have not acquired documents on the ramp from the Municipality of Venice."
Yesterday it was precisely the "hole" in the guardrail that took center stage, which apparently played a role in the bus skidding: the vehicle, after starting to slide on the 55 centimeter high balustrade, entered the safety gap with its tires, thus pushing the bus even more against the guardrail, which could not withstand the weight of 13 tons .
(Unioneonline/L)