The Court of Cassation confirmed the sentences of 6 years and 3 months for Vito Piccarreta and 6 years and 9 months for Nicola Lorizzo, deeming the appeals of the civil parties inadmissible and definitively acquitting Ferrotramviaria and its two managers for the massacre of 12 July 2016 on the Andria-Corato line, in which 23 people died and 51 were injured.
AI-generated summary
On 12 July 2016, two regional trains collided head-on on the Andria-Corato single-track line in Puglia, killing 23 people and injuring 51 others. The accident was initially attributed to human error in rail traffic management.
The convictions of the two railway workers and the acquittals of Ferrotramviaria and its two managers for the railway massacre of 12 July 2016 in which 23 people lost their lives and 51 others were injured on the single-track Andria-Corato section were confirmed in cassation.
Appeal inadmissible
The Court deemed inadmissible the appeal of the prosecutor who had asked to annul the acquittal sentence for Ferrotramviaria, for the then CEO of the company Massimo Nitti, and for the operations director Michele Ronchi. The sentences of 6 years and 3 months for the Andria station master, Vito Piccarreta, and 6 years and 9 months for the train conductor Nicola Lorizzo were confirmed.
The reasons are awaited
By rejecting Lorizzo's appeal and judging Piccarreta's appeal inadmissible, the three acquittals and two convictions became definitive. After the appeal ruling, the other 14 acquittals had already become definitive. While awaiting the reasons for the sentence, it is clear that the Supreme Court shared the reasons of the second instance judges who established that the accident was caused by "human error".
In-depth analysis
Puglia train collision, Mattarella at ceremony for ten-year massacre

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The Court of Cassation confirmed the sentences of 6 years and 3 months for Vito Piccarreta and 6 years and 9 months for Nicola Lorizzo, deeming the railway massacre of 12 July 2016 on the Andria-Corato line caused by human error, acquitting Ferrotramviaria and its managers Massimo Nitti and Michele Ronchi after ten years of trial.

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