Rome - Relatives of Covid-19 victims in Bergamo, Italy's most
infected province, took legal action on Wednesday in search of
justice for their dead.
Members of the "Noi Denunceremo" (We will press charges) association,
born out of a Facebook group, filed 50 individual criminal complaints
before the Bergamo prosecutors' office.
"We are all from the Bergamo area and we all have similar stories,
stories of family tragedies, and we are all seeking clear and serious
answers from prosecutors," Cristina Longhini told dpa.
Longhini and other relatives are not pressing charges against
specific individuals or institutions, but are convinced that many
people died due to official negligence and incompetence.
Many of the complaints cite authorities' failure to seal off Alzano
Lombardo and Nembro, two towns on the outskirts of Bergamo that were
virus clusters in early March, according to a lawyer for the group.
They also mention the rushed reopening of the emergency room of
Alzano Lombardo's hospital, after the first Covid-19 cases were
diagnosed there, citing it as having contributed to the epidemic.
"It will be up to judicial authorities to assess the complaints," the
lawyer, Consuelo Locati, was quoted as saying by ANSA news agency.
"It won't be a quick investigation given the sensitivity of the
matter."
Longhini lost her 65-year-old father in March.
When he got sick, the family doctor refused to visit him at home, and
ambulances were not available to take him to hospital for several
days. When he was finally hospitalized, he was beyond saving.