A noise, the walls tremble and the floor collapses. All in one second. A two-floor-building in the historical centre of Favara in the province of Agrigento collapsed like a sand castle and under the debris an entire family. The family’s neighbours gave the first help, they dug with their hands, they could hear the children screaming in the silence of the morning. It was 7 a.m. when the carabinieri, the firemen and the civil defence arrived. Marianna, 14 years old, was found already dead; her little sister, Chiara, 3 years old, died as soon as the paramedics found her. The parents, Giuseppe Bellavia, a temporary worker and Giuseppina Bello, a 36-years-old housewife, were slightly injured. Their third son, Giovanni, 12 years old, also saved himself. He called his father on his mobile phone to ask for help. In Favara a drama of poverty took place.

The family asked for a council house in 1995 – said one the victims’ uncles – but the town hall never answered. The mayor, Domenico Russello, announced a day of mourning, and said also that the Bellavia family are not amongst the people who could benefit from one of the 56 council houses.

In the meantime the conditions of little Giovanni improved. Yesterday he was transferred to a hospital in Palermo and now he is in the paediatric surgery ward because of a trauma to his right leg. Yesterday his father visited him but he didn’t tell him that his two little sisters had died. A very moving moment, said those who saw the two. The mother stayed in Favara to organize the funeral of her two daughters that will be celebrated tomorrow morning in the cathedral of Favara at 11.00 a.m.

Translated by Chiara Nunnari from John Milton Institute