Claudio Mura recounts the tragedy of his family, victim of an accident on the Carlo Felice 40 years ago
He is one of Piero Mura's brothers, who died with all his direct relatives after a race in Alà dei Sardi: "My mother and father died with them that day". Sunday the memory of the country
Claudio Mura (photo andrea Serreli)
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Forty years later not to forget. Tomorrow and Sunday Settimo San Pietro remembers the Mura family, victims of one of the greatest tragedies on Statale 131, then in that stretch of road without the traffic island: Piero Mura, 41, his wife Anna Maria, 38, their sons Gianvincenzo and Giacomo , were victims of the terrible accident in August 1982. After a long time, Settimo will remember them with a photographic exhibition, a mass, a visit to the tombs in the cemetery and a morning dedicated to racing through the streets of the town. That tragedy was remembered by one of Piero Mura's brothers, Claudio, 73, who lives in the village.
It was 5 in the morning on August 30, 40 years ago. Claudio Mura, first a metalworker and then at Telecom, lived in Milan. One of many from the Mura family who emigrated to Northern Italy in the 1960s. Claudius, what happened? “The phone rang. On the other side my brother Leandro, his voice trembling: A tragedy has happened: Piero died with Maria and Giacomo. Gianvincenzo is in a coma in the hospital. Warn papa and the others."
Terrible news on the Settimo-Milan axis. Claudio Mura, has tears in his eyes. Tell with difficulty. The voice is very light. “We met a few hours later at the airport, all the Mura who lived in Milan: we did it quickly, we got on a plane and we found ourselves in Elmas. We were accompanied to Sanluri: in the cemetery we found the bodies of my brother Piero, his wife Anna Maria, Giacomo: they were 41, 38 and 15 years old. Gianvicenzo, 13, athletics champion, had instead been hospitalized in a coma. You can understand what condition we were in. I remember the funerals, an infinity of people and tears, the words of the parish priest Don Carlo Podda, everyone's desperation. I left for Milan. But after a few weeks I had to return: on 16 September Gianvincenzo also died. Just on father Piero's birthday. Another funeral. More infinite pain”.
This is the story that marked the Mura family. “My mother – Claudio continues – never left the house again. My father did the shopping. Yep, that's right. They died in 2003 and 2008 marked by this enormous pain”.
This was one of the most terrible massacres on the 131. It had happened at night near Sanluri. The Mura family was returning by car from Alà dei sardi where in the afternoon Gianvincenzo had participated in a regional cross-country race. Giacomo also ran. With them there was also a friend, Mirella Deiana, 11 years old, the only one who had survived after a long hospitalization. Among the first responders, Sergio Lai, athletics manager also returning from Alà dei Sardi.
At the funeral of the champion Gianvicenzo, all of Settimo's friends were there, who at the time had teamed up with sport, trying their hand at road racing. Little champions were born who also took part in competitions on the peninsula. Last summer, old friends (some names? Ivana Mereu, Barbara Ligas, Ignazino Deiana, today's mayor Gigi Puddu), decided to remember the Mura family: the appointment was set for November 19 and 20 . <I remember the funerals - says Gigi Puddu -: I was 11 years old, we all had the club's uniform, I remember a lot of people. At that time, Settimo loved athletics a lot. Today we have a new lead: it will certainly serve to strengthen this passion>. The sports event on Sunday is organized by the "ASD Sevenfit" under the patronage of the municipal administration of Settimo San Pietro and with the approval of the FIDAL Regional Committee
Claudio Mura, a photographer by passion, has also set up an exhibition on the tragedy and on the family members who are no longer there. It can be visited on Saturday and Sunday at Casa Dessì. A mass will also be celebrated on Saturday at 6pm. Sunday at 8 the visit to the cemetery on the graves of the victims of this tragedy. Then, everyone to run. Many registrations are expected with amateur and category races up to seven kilometers. To honor the memory of the Mura family, a grandfather marathon runner, Raffaele Floris, almost 79 years old, also returned from Turin to Sinnai, who will run the longest race scheduled, the seven kilometer one. “I still remember the tragedy. Gianvincenzo was already a small champion. It was awful."
