According to the technical report filed as part of the preliminary investigation, it was Patrick and Ythan's actions that caused the collapse of the attic in the ruined house where they lost their lives . This was written by the court expert, engineer Aldo Mauri, appointed by preliminary investigations judge Mauro Pusceddu at the request of public prosecutor Riccardo Belfiori. The expert report will be presented and discussed in court on July 16th, before the parties.
The collapse dates back to April 1, 2024, when Patrick and Ythan, aged 15 and 14, were crushed by the rubble of the abandoned building . Since then, the Nuoro prosecutor's office has been investigating to clarify the circumstances of the tragedy, the condition of the building, and any potential responsibilities.
In the recently filed technical report, Mauri attributes an active and decisive role to the boys' behavior : "According to the evidence," the expert writes, "the injured parties both engaged in behavior aimed at crumbling the two first-floor walls supporting the attic (those facing northwest and southwest): their intent was to cause it to collapse. Specifically, the behavior consisted of hitting the walls with large stones and wooden planks (similar to sticks, logs, or probably pieces of planks commonly used in construction), thus crumbling the walls themselves, removing some ashlars and progressively reducing their resistant cross-section to the corner connection between the two walls."
A dynamic that, according to the engineer, would have made the collapse inevitable: "The stress within the structure gradually worsened," Mauri continues, "until the resistance capacity of the masonry portion and the ashlars that constituted it was reached and exceeded, inevitably causing the masonry to fail and the consequent collapse of the floor."
Mauri concludes that the causal contribution of the youths' actions was "independent and sufficient" for the collapse to occur . It will now be up to the prosecutor's office to assess, in light of what will emerge at the July 16 hearing, whether there were omissions or responsibilities on the part of private individuals in the failure to manage the risk associated with the building.
