The search for Luigi Cavallari, 84, husband of Family Minister Eugenia Roccella, who disappeared yesterday afternoon in Lake Vico , continued throughout the night, including with the help of a remote-controlled rover. Immediately after his wife, who was in the boat with him, raised the alarm, airborne divers from the Rome Fire Brigade arrived on the scene, searching the body of water where Cavallari disappeared around 5:00 PM after diving from a small boat.
Teams of divers from Naples and Florence have also arrived, using even more specialized equipment for searches in waters with poor visibility.
The two had decided to spend a day at Lake Vico, in the Viterbo area.
The accident occurred just meters away from the many swimmers who had decided to spend the day at the lake and the customers of a restaurant overlooking the lake. Minister Roccella, who celebrated her golden wedding anniversary with her husband Luigi last March, is deeply concerned. "I met him when I was eighteen, and from that moment," she herself has said in the past, "we've never been apart."
Cavallari dived from the boat into the lake to cool off. After briefly surfacing, he reportedly said he wasn't feeling well, but the boat, which wasn't anchored, drifted away, and those on board couldn't reach him in time . Cavallari disappeared, sucked into the lake. The minister herself raised the alarm at 5:30 PM, immediately activating the rescue operation.
After being brought to shore, the Minister for Family Affairs was escorted to the home she and her husband own in the Viterbo area, while operations continue unabated. The Deputy Prefect of Viterbo, Andrea Nino Caputo, is on site to coordinate the operation. Investigators also conducted surveys of the small boat where the couple was located.
Numerous messages of solidarity have been sent to the minister.
(Unioneonline)
