A man falls and hits his face on the ground: another victim of the asphalt disaster at Is Bingias.

She trips, falls, and risks losing her teeth. In addition to her fright, the elderly woman who fell to the ground this morning in Piazza Giovanni Medas, in Pirri, undoubtedly suffered a mouth injury: the ruined square where the open-air market is set up every day, next to the Is Bingias local market.

Despite the high traffic, the stall area appears abandoned by the authorities. The asphalt, or what remains of it, is dotted with deep potholes and depressions , making it dangerous for pedestrians to walk there.

Because if this morning's accident, taken alone, could be seen as the result of a distraction, we must take into account the statistics: less than a month ago, on February 24th, another woman had fallen for the same reason, after having placed her foot badly in a crack in the road , suffering a fracture of the humerus that required surgery.

Uneven asphalt and potholes are common on every street in that block. Yet there are—yes, of course— a market, a flea market, a bank, a kindergarten, a supermarket, a post office, bars, and other shops. The beating heart of Pirri—where people, many elderly, get around on foot—continues to be the scene of accidents because new asphalt is not being laid.

"Someone intervene," pleaded the daughter of the first woman to be hospitalized, "or should we wait for someone to die?" So far, the toll—at least the one known—is two women injured.

Enrico Fresu