The alarm was triggered when the competitor did not arrive in Bagnaria and was then found lifeless hours later along the route. Friends: in the previous days he had accused a malaise
BAGNARIA.
The lifeless body was found next to the bike, in a difficult to reach area in Torretta, in the Municipality of Bagnaria, not far from the dirt path of the transfer stage between the third and fourth special stages. Arnold Staal, a 55-year-old Dutch driver, had been reported missing by the Dutch Federation, which on Tuesday evening, the second day of competition, informed the organizers of his failure to arrive at the Bagnaria check point. The body was found only around 20 and recovered a few hours later.
A tragedy that falls like a boulder on the international six days of enduro but that does not stop the race, continued in the Staffora Valley after a minute of meditation in the rider’s memory, and on which, however, full light has yet to be shed.
In fact, it could also have been an illness and not the consequences of falling from the bike that killed the 55-year-old. For this reason, the magistrate of the Pavia prosecutor, Valentina De Stefano, has ordered the autopsy, which will be performed in the next few hours at the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Pavia.
The testimonials
The hypothesis of the illness seems to find a partial confirmation also in some testimonies collected by the Voghera traffic police officers, who carried out the surveys: some people of the pilot’s team reported a malaise accused by the companion a few days before the tragedy. A circumstance to be verified. The magistrate has not ordered other measures in relation to the sporting event or the course of the race, which therefore continues according to the planned program, with the exception of the seizure of the motorcycle, which remains at the disposal of the judicial authority to exclude, for example, a possible breakdown. .
The dynamics
The drama occurred on Tuesday. The Dutch Ktm driver, category C3 and member of the Mccz Club Team, was busy transferring between the special stages of Casanova Staffora and Bagnaria. When they did not see him arrive at the Bagnaria check point, the leaders of the Dutch Federation raised the alarm by alerting the organization which in turn warned the rescuers. The research ended about a kilometer above Bagnaria, in a wooded area. The men of the Civil Defense tracked the rider’s body in an escarpment, near his motorcycle.
One of the doctors of the organization also arrived on the spot, who, examining the body, could not establish with certainty the causes of death. The 55-year-old regularly wore a helmet and all necessary protective gear. Wounds were found, due to the fall, but only the autopsy will tell if they were the ones to cause death or illness.
Notice to the family
The Dutch Federation immediately warned the family members, while yesterday the sadness for what happened was intertwined with the bureaucratic tasks. The team had to carry out the recognition of the body, which will be made available to the family only after the conclusion of the investigations.
The traffic police officers, led by the provincial commander Filippo Franchi, returned yesterday to the site to continue the surveys. In the locality of Torretta also the mayor of Bagnaria, Mattia Franza, while the races started on Wednesday morning at 8, as usual, after a minute of silence from the participants.