47 Bodies Found So Far In Ruins Of Flats

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29004, 19 September 1959, Page 13

47 Bodies Found So Far In Ruins Of Flats

(Rec. 10 p.m.) BARLETTA (Italy), September 18. Rescue teams, working around the clock in the debris of a five-storey building which collapsed on Wednesday, have so far removed 47 dead and 13 injured.

Last night Mayor Michele Palmitessa said a new check showed that an estimated 72 persons were in the building at the time of the disaster. By these figures, 12 Persons are still missing. As the rescue teams continue to rip away the twisted steel girders and jagged blocks of concrete, Italian officials began an inquiry into the disaster. The State Prosecutor questioned the builders. The building had once been a one-storey garage. Several months ago four floors of fiats were added. City officials said the additional floors were apparently too much of a load for the foundations. Today Italian newspapers carried editorials pleading tor stiffer building codes and tighter inspections ' A hostile crowd last night fathered outside the Barletta police station where the construction engineer of the flats is beta! held in custody, the “Daily Ex*, press" reported. The “Daily Express" said the engineer. Francesco Lombardi, gave himself up last night but the police, fearing for his safety, hid the news from the townspeople until today. A warrant tor his arrest was issued soon after the disaster. Yesterday he threatened to commit suicide, but today, the newspaper said, he insisted that ne was not responsible for the di»•ater. He had also prodayd By blueprints to show police that hf tod made no error*. W'-EW , A 60-year-old man wbO, *W* tejfred more than 30 hours Mf**% MR* of rubble ot the

two hours after he was dug out of the debris yesterday The survivor, Luigi was found, nearly unconscious, moaning weakly, and embracing the body of his wife. First reports said the man appeared to be suffering from shock and weakness. When admitted to hospital he was given a 50-50 chance of survival. He was believed to have been shielded in the collapse by a concrete arch which stood firm. Police have also arrested four persons on charges of stealing and looting the wreckage. President Gronchi of Italy visited the scene of the disaster and the hospital in Barletta yesterday. „ When he was leaving, an old woman who lost her family in the flats threw herself at his feet and cried: “They must be punished?’ The Minister of Public Works (Mr Giuseppe Togni), who is in Holland, annonunced today that he would present an urgent Bill to Parliament to tighten construction rules and control of to reinforced copcretebufldlay He recalled similar disasters in. recent years involving privatelybrnlt houses. A PUSASANI colfl* I