October 31, 2002. A date that is never forgotten in Molise. At 11.32 the earth shook with unexpected violence: a 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit lower Molise, devastating above all San Giuliano di Puglia, leaving a wound that still marks the soul of an entire region today. The collapse of the “Francesco Jovine” elementary school wiped out the lives of 27 children and their teacher, Carmela Ciniglio, in just a few moments.
An entire generation disappeared in the rubble of a building that should have been a safe haven, not a concrete trap.
A tragedy announced
The rescuers arrived amidst the dust and silence broken only by the crying of the parents. The images of the firefighters digging with their bare hands through the rubble of that school that collapsed like a sandcastle went around the country. The whole of Italy stopped in disbelief.
In the following days there was talk of a “fatality”, then of “human error”: the building had been raised with works that did not comply with anti-seismic regulations. The tragedy became a symbol of collective negligence, culminating years later with convictions for those responsible for the construction and with a judicial truth that confirmed what everyone already knew: the tragedy could have been avoided.
A new law for safer schools and public buildings
After the earthquake, Italy introduced stricter regulations on school safety and public buildings. The so-called “San Giuliano law” was born, which tied specific funds to anti-seismic reconstruction. But there is a huge but. 23 years after the tragedy that struck Molise, many Italian schools are still at risk.
As emerges from the latest Ecosistema Scuola report by Legambiente, less than half of school buildings have a certificate of usability (47%) and only 45% have static testing and in many seismic areas. The safety of attics, the main cause of accidents at school, remains a non-negligible emergency: only 31% of buildings have had diagnostic investigations in the last five years and just 11% have been made safe.
The collective wound that does not heal
San Giuliano di Puglia, from that day on, is no longer the same. The houses, the school, the square: everything has been rebuilt, but the wound remains open. Every year, on October 31st, the country stops.
The bells ring at 11:32, the same time the earth shook. In the Garden of Memory, next to the new school, there are 27 trees – one for each child – and a plaque with their names.
