Tragedy at the 1000 Miglia Rally: spectator hit and killed during special stage

He had arrived from Turin with his wife to attend the 1000 Miglia Rally but a day of sport turned into tragedy. Francesco De Pasquale, 63 years old, resident in Caselle Torinese, died after being hit by a car involved in the race during a special test in Valsabbia, between Casto and Bione, in the Brescia area. After the accident, the organizers decided to permanently suspend the competition. The rally, which should have ended in the center of Brescia, therefore did not have its expected epilogue. The crews still competing were asked to reach the Montichiari Exhibition Center directly, where the event managers met the press in the afternoon. "We want to express deep condolences to the victim's family. There are not many comments to make. The pain is great", said the president of Aci Brescia, Aldo Bonomi, visibly shaken. The race director underlined the timeliness of the intervention after the investment. "We started the emergency services immediately," he said, but the race doctor couldn't have done anything for the 63-year-old anyway. "The spectator who was the victim of the accident - he explained - would have died instantly according to the initial investigations". With him were his wife and daughter, who were not injured. The circumstances of the accident now remain to be precisely reconstructed. According to the first elements gathered, De Pasquale was near a curve and would have been intent on taking a photograph when he was reached by the racing car which hit him, then ending the race in a ditch. The special stage was in its final phase. Among the aspects still to be clarified are above all the position occupied by the man at the moment of impact and whether the point in which he was located was included among the areas permitted to the public. The investigations will also have to reconstruct the trajectory of the car and the exact sequence that led to the collision. The Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation entrusted to the magistrate on duty Francesca Sussarello who is now waiting for the reports from the police forces who intervened. The tragedy brings to mind another serious accident that occurred in the Brescia area during a car competition. It was July 29, 2017 when, during the official tests for the Malegno-Ossimo-Borno, the historic time trial of Valle Camonica, a car went off the road near Ossimo Inferiore, hitting two course marshals. Mauro Firmo, 57 years old, ACI commissioner of Carpenedolo, lost his life in the accident, while his colleague who was with him was seriously injured. Even on that occasion the demonstration was first suspended and then definitively cancelled.