The bodies of Enzo Cuomo, 63, his wife, Trini Adrian, 53, and their daughter, Isabella, 22 , have been found. The plight of the three Italians, originally from Laviano (Salerno), was followed with great concern in the village. Hopes faded in the Italian night, when it was broad daylight in Caracas.
The bodies were found in the rubble of the Petunia building, in the residential neighborhood of Los Palos Grandes . The family lived on the 14th and top floor of the building, which had completely collapsed.
Cuomo was a highly regarded architect in Venezuela; his daughter Isabel dreamed of becoming a fashion designer and was studying at university. The couple's other son, Carlo Francesco, was in Italy and left for Venezuela in the past few hours before his body was found.
A family marked by a tragic fate, because Enzo Cuomo's grandparents also lost their lives in an earthquake, the devastating one that hit Irpinia in 1980. Filomena Piserchia and Gerardo Nicola Cicoria were found under the rubble of their home in Laviano , one of the towns hardest hit by the earthquake.
Relatives and friends of the family were deeply apprehensive, and the entire community followed the story with bated breath, hoping for a happy ending that unfortunately did not come.
For many, especially among the elderly who experienced that tragedy, the images arriving from Venezuela have reopened wounds that have never fully healed .
"These are hours of apprehension for our community, awaiting news on the fate of the Cuomo family. The entire town is following the situation with great anxiety and hopes for positive news soon," Laviano Mayor Piero Robertiello told ANSA yesterday.
(Unioneonline)