Belgium: A mainly Italian tragedy in the accident.

Belgium: A mainly Italian tragedy in the accident.
Car on the crowd in Belgium, two Sicilian cousins driving: three people from Campania among the victims

Paolo and Nino Falzone were arrested for causing the massacre in La Louvière during Carnival celebrations. Six were killed and 27 injured

Two men from Comitini, in the province of Agrigento in Italy, are from Comitini, in the province of Agrigento in Italy. They were on board the BMW that plunged into the crowd in La Louvière, a small town in Wallonia in Belgium, on Saturday evening, killing six people and injuring 27 others.

According to investigators, Paolo Falzone was driving the powerful sedan, while his cousin Nino was at his side. The community of Volturara irpina, in the province of Avellino, was shocked by the news that three fellow citizens were among the victims.

Arrested two Sicilians – It was a mainly Italian tragedy that took place in the Belgian town: driving the vehicle that crashed at high speed into the crowd was Paolo Falzone, 32, a family member originally from Comitini in the Agrigento area, and a lover of reckless racing, as shown by the many videos posted on his social networks. Next to him was his 34-year-old cousin Nino. They had just driven a friend home after going to a disco. Both were arrested, the results of toxicological tests are now awaited. According to local newspapers, one of the two arrested had had his driving licence revoked in 2017, which was later returned.

The Italian victims – Nadia Manganaro, mayor of the small Irpinian municipality of which the victims Michelina Imperiale, Mario Cascarano and Salvatore Imperiale were originally from, expresses solidarity and condolences to the families. The three Campania victims were attending, along with two hundred other people, the Carnival masks gathering in the Belgian village of La Louvière. “Michelina and Mario, husband and wife, both in their fifties, and Salvatore Imperiale, Michelina’s brother, had not severed their ties with their homeland: every year, in July, on the occasion of the patron saint’s feast day, they returned to Volturara Irpina, where family members and relatives still live,” explains the mayor, who is in constant contact with the Belgian authorities to collaborate on the return of the bodies to their home village.

‘A celebration turned into mourning’ – Also showing their closeness to the victims’ families and the community shocked by the incident were the Belgian Prime Minister, King Philippe and Princess Elisabeth. All Carnival events were suspended.