Ilva, the little Lorenzo died of brain cancer: six executives of the steel plant to stand trial

Six individuals, including executives and former executives of the former Ilva steel plant, have been called to trial on October 2nd, for the death of five-year-old Lorenzo Zaratta in 2014. Lorenzo was a victim of brain cancer in Taranto. They are charged with involuntary manslaughter. The decision comes from the Court of Appeals of Lecce, which accepted the appeal filed by the deputy prosecutor, Mariano Buccoliero, and the family of the child, against the judge's ruling of non-proceedings in the preliminary hearing, issued on July 12th, 2022.

According to the accusation

The defendants, according to the accusation, allowed "the dispersion of dust and harmful substances," causing the child's neurological illness. Just three months after birth, the baby was diagnosed with brain cancer, which took his life on July 30th, 2014. According to the accusation, the defendants would have allowed "the dispersion of dust and harmful substances originating from the processing," "omitting the adoption of preventive measures against work accidents and occupational diseases". All of this would have contributed to causing the "neuroplastic" disease in little Lorenzo, who was exposed to the harmful substances even when he was in the fetal stage.

The defendants

The defendants are: the former director of the Taranto plant, the former head of the mineral parks area, the head of the coking area, the head of the blast furnaces area, and the heads of the two steel mills.