The fire, the "gas chamber" cell, the rescue attempts: Bancali, the reconstruction of the tragic fire
A night of terror in prison. A Sardinian inmate dies in a fire he set in his cell. Several officers are hospitalized. The unions say the situation is "grave."Per restare aggiornato entra nel nostro canale Whatsapp
The prisoner, who had been hospitalized for some time due to his health conditions, barricaded himself inside the cell and attempted to seal the openings, effectively creating an environment filled with smoke and combustion gases, comparable to a veritable "gas chamber."
This is the reconstruction by the Uil FP Penitentiary Police union of Sassari of the dramatic moments experienced during the night between Thursday and Friday in the Bancali prison, where a Sardinian inmate died due to a fire he himself started.
The man, the union states in a statement, set fire to "the furniture and the bed, rapidly feeding the flames and making the entire cell extremely dangerous and practically inaccessible."
The reconstruction continues: "Despite the challenging operating conditions, the Penitentiary Police personnel intervened with absolute speed, risking their own safety in a desperate attempt to put out the fire and rescue the inmate. The officers repeatedly attempted to reach the man, who, in the meantime, had barricaded himself further inside the cell bathroom. The high temperatures, thick smoke, and flames that had now engulfed the room, however, significantly hampered the rescue operations, making any rescue attempt extremely difficult. Only after managing to access the rooms affected by the fire did the operators find the inmate, whose condition appeared serious from the outset. He subsequently died, despite the intervention of 118 medical personnel, presumably due to fumes from the fire and the burns he sustained. During the rescue operations, several members of the Penitentiary Police Force were intoxicated by the fumes released by the fire, while a couple suffered minor burns.
Following the incident, the UIL FP expressed its "deepest condolences" and "maximum sympathy and solidarity" with the prison officers "who faced an exceptionally serious emergency with courage, high professionalism, and a profound sense of duty, intervening from the very first moments in an attempt to save a human life and ensure the safety of the entire institution."
According to the union, "this latest serious incident requires a serious reflection on the conditions of the penitentiary system. The constant overcrowding of institutions, the growing number of inmates with serious health and psychiatric problems, the chronic shortage of prison police and other professionals, as well as the insufficient resources allocated to security and assistance, are leading to a progressive deterioration of operating conditions within institutions.
"Concrete action by the Penitentiary Administration and the relevant institutions is urgently needed," Uil FP concludes. "This action aims to strengthen staffing, ensure adequate levels of healthcare and psychiatric care, improve safety standards, and provide staff with the tools needed to address increasingly frequent and complex emergencies."
(Unioneonline)