Helicopter crashed in Bosnia, the bodies of Italian soldiers arrived in Italy

The bodies of sergeants Simone Ruggia and Claudio Marchesi and members of the Red Cross Military Corps, lieutenant Franco Adriano Zecchillo and sergeant Laura Procacci, who died last Thursday in the accident of the Italian helicopter that fell in Bosnia during a training flight, have landed at Ciampino airport. The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani welcomed the coffins.

Relatives, colleagues and citizens arrive at the funeral home set up at the Celio military hospital in Rome to pay homage to the four Italian soldiers who died in the helicopter crash in Bosnia-Herzegovina last 29 October. The funeral home was opened to the public and will remain accessible until 8pm. Sergeant Claudio Marchesi's aunt remembers him like this: "He was too good, too exuberant, it was simply too much." A colleague of Simone Ruggia, with whom he worked in Viterbo, says of him: "A very good person, an excellent friend, an excellent colleague". The last time they spoke was a week ago, shortly before his departure for Bosnia: "We'll talk calmly, then I'll tell you", Simone had told him when talking about the mission. “He was enthusiastic, very much so,” he adds, recalling that Ruggia had recently married. The mother of a colleague of the victims says: "My son was on that same plane in Bosnia a few weeks ago. He works with them in Viterbo, they are his friends. It seemed natural to come here to pay homage to them." Even ordinary citizens participate in the funeral home: "I put myself in the shoes of those who experienced those moments of terror - says one of them - because I saw that helicopter on television that was spinning 40 meters above the ground. They are servants of the State, credit to them".