It was supposed to be a night of celebration, the most eagerly awaited night by the Venetians, the night that went down in history as the Most Famous Night, but yesterday the Redentore evening turned into a tragedy.
At the end of the famous fireworks display, among the more than 4,000 boats leaving the San Marco Basin where they had watched the fireworks from the water, a boat hit a mooring with a boy on board, Richard Nardinand two friends.
According to the first reconstructions, the young man driving would have fallen into the water and would never have re-emerged. It seems that an anomalous wave, perhaps caused by the traffic of many moving boats, has destabilized the boat. Firefighters recovered the lifeless body within a short time.
Riccardo Nardin, 28, was returning home to Cavallino Treporti, a town on the coast not far from Venice. The other 2 people, two girls, unharmed, called for help at 1.25 am who arrived immediately because the teams were prepared for the surveillance of the Redeemer.
The firefighters and the local police immediately headed for the stretch of canal between the islands of San Giorgio and the island of San Servolo, but although the divers found the young man shortly thereafter, there was no longer any chance of saving him.
Nardin had studied at the Nautical Institute of Venice and worked in the boat excursion company for tourists “Il Doge di Venezia”.
The investigations are conducted by the local police of Venice because the accident took place in a point of the water channel under the jurisdiction of the Municipality. It will be necessary to ascertain the causes of the accident and understand if there is a correlation with the water traffic or if it was a fatality. The site of the tragedy was in fact in a secondary channel with respect to the central one crossed by the thousands of boats that were returning after the fireworks display.
In fact, it is estimated that in Venice yesterday evening, for the traditional Festa del Redentore, still celebrated today in memory of the liberation from the plague of 1575, there were one hundred thousand people, mostly, as per tradition, on the banks and 30 thousand instead who admired the fireworks from over 4,000 boats present.
An increase compared to the previous year, when there were 3,700 boats. Yesterday the wave motion, caused by water traffic, was very evident so much so that in the San Marco Basin the waves appeared high. However, the reconstruction of the dynamics of the accident is still ongoing and for now there are only hypotheses that have not yet been verified.
“I want to express the condolences of the city of Venice and myself for the death of Riccardo in a tragic nautical accident whose causes are still being examined by the investigators”, said the mayor of Venice this morning Louis Brugnaro. “We all cling to his family and dearest loved ones. Unfortunately it is another young life suddenly cut short”.
“It had been a day of celebration”, continued the mayor of the seafaring city, “with the fireworks display which had illuminated the ‘very famous night’. This sad news arrived during the exodus phase, which was continuing regularly. I thank the firefighters, the police forces, the doctors and all those who immediately took action to search and rescue the other members of the boat’s crew. Unfortunately for Riccardo there was nothing they could do. In memory of him, as a Municipality, we have decided that before the Redentore Regattas, which will take place in the afternoon in the Giudecca canal, we will observe a minute of silence ”.