A golden sheet wet from the rain, a broken bicycle and a cement mixer a little further on tell the story of the tragedy: Christina Scotland, 39 years old made a week ago, last April 13, mother of a girl of 6, was run over and killed while pedalling in via Francesco Sforza at the corner with corso di Porta Vittoria. Personal trainer and holistic masseusewith a past as a gymnastics and athletics instructor and educator in kindergartens and primary schools.
And the fifth cyclist to die in Milan over 8 months, overwhelmed by a motorized vehicle. “I was crossing the road when I heard the impact and turned around – says a witness -. I saw the woman thrown onto the asphalt and the cement mixer crushing her”. The 53-year-old driver of the vehicle stops driving. “I killed a person, kill me,” a passerby would have heard him shout. At 11.53 the call for help is triggered while the traffic in that intersection in the historic center is paralyzed and many onlookers stop at the edge of the sidewalks. They remain standing, oblivious to the rain that continues to fall and the wind that whips the city on a cold day, not spring. Heads peek out from the door of the Sormani library, others from the businesses opposite and from the A2A offices.
A few minutes pass and the 118 vehicles and the local police arrive. But the rescuers can’t help but ascertain the woman’s death: she died instantly. The truck driver is in shock. He is accompanied in green code to the Polyclinic. He will test negative for alcohol and drugs. “The bike and the cement mixer came from the same side,” adds the witness. According to an initial reconstruction of the cast irons, the cement mixer had just traveled via Francesco Sforza and turned right onto corso di Porta Vittoria, without noticing the bike which was presumably on its right, in the blind corner, along the cycle lane drawn on the asphalt . Perhaps she had time to reach the “advanced house”, the space reserved for two-wheelers in front of the stop line, before being hit in full force. Perhaps the cyclist intended to continue along via Sforza but the cement mixer hit her, running her over.
I’m in progress the investigations of the cast irons and the truth will emerge from the vision of the video cameras. Meanwhile, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into road homicide: the file is coordinated by the prosecutor Mauro Clerici. It will also be necessary to ascertain how fast the cement mixer was going and whether the driver, who was entered in the register of suspects, had put the arrow to turn.
Milan is now in mourning for Cristina. Mother of Crescenzago, she lived with her daughter and her contemporary partner. Very few traces of her on the web. She graduated in sports science, on Linkedin she presents herself as a personal trainer and holistic masseuse, after having been an instructor of artistic gymnastics and athletics for years. Among the companies for which he worked, Atletica Bresso: “It is difficult to find appropriate words – comments the president Mauro Pattonieri -. Our association embraces your family with an intense and sad embrace. We want to remember you, passionate and happy in the gym with your little girls. Hi Cris”.