MASSA. They called him shortly after the accident. They told him it was serious, but they didn’t say how much. No one knew yet. «I only knew there had been an accident and that my parents had been taken to the hospital, but no news had come out online yet: I didn’t know what had really happened. I only understood later and only several hours later did I find out that both my parents had died,» recounts Pietro Cosci, one of the two children of Paolo Cosci and Graziella Baldini, the Massa couple who died in the accident on the Terni-Rieti road, on the shuttle returning from the Marmore Falls.
The stop in Umbria
They were supposed to return to Massa the same evening, after a week-long trip in Puglia with a couple of friends who were injured in the crash. «They had decided to make a stop in Umbria to break the nearly ten-hour journey», explains the son. They were almost back to their car when, according to an initial reconstruction, the driver of a camper, for reasons still unclear, crossed into the opposite lane just as the bus was arriving. The driver didn’t even have time to brake.
The son’s account
There was the crash, then the tragedy: 34 injured and six dead, including Pietro’s parents, 33 and Federico, 29. «When I arrived in Terni I didn’t even know where my parents were – says the eldest son –, whether in surgery or in the ward». The seriously injured were mostly unrecognizable and nameless. Pietro began searching for his parents with the mayor of Terni and the hospital doctors. Dozens of unanswered calls, then identification thanks to tattoos. «I arrived there at 8 p.m. I found out my dad had died at 11. I learned about my mom at two in the morning».
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Who the victims were
Paolo Cosci and Graziella Baldini were a couple of respected and loved people. They lived in Quercioli, a residential neighborhood of Massa where everyone still knows everyone despite the relationships that are lost around. They didn’t, they had never lost touch. They had continued to nurture friendships that lasted a lifetime. She was a housewife, he a well-known craftsman who had just retired. They were both 61 years old and it was time to dedicate their lives to travel. «The news deeply affected the community. My parents were surrounded by much affection – remembers the son –. They were part of a generation where friendships lasted a lifetime. They had worked to provide for us, my mom taking care of the house and my dad working all day. Now they had time for themselves».
The bodies are at the morgue of the Terni hospital and are at the disposal of the Prosecutor’s Office. It is still too early to know when they can return to Massa for the funerals.
