Tragic Car Accident in Sicily Claims the Life of Three-Year-Old Aurora

 Three-year-old Aurora died in her mother's arms following a car accident. She was traveling with her father, Rosario Brusa, a 40-year-old blacksmith, who had been drinking before driving. It is certain that he consumed more alcohol than the law allows for driving. Moreover, Brusa was driving without a license, as it had been revoked, and the car was uninsured. Late at night, he crashed his Volkswagen Polo into a wall in Villabate, a town near Palermo. The impact was fatal for his three-year-old daughter, who appears to have been in her mother's arms; she was pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital in Palermo. The accident occurred around 3 AM. Brusa claimed that the car's brakes suddenly failed near a curve on Via Natta, where a concrete wall supports an overpass and meets a dirt road. The carabinieri are investigating his claims, having interrogated both husband and wife and conducted site inspections, while the prosecutor's office has opened a file, and Brusa faces charges of vehicular manslaughter.

Background
The family was returning from an evening at a pizzeria on the Aspra seafront. Brusa's car was carrying his wife, Aurora's twin brother, and their fourteen-year-old brother, who had just called his parents after his scooter broke down in Ficarazzi, a few kilometers from Villabate. According to what Aurora's mother reportedly told a relative, she was holding the little girl in her arms at the time of the accident.

This incident is reminiscent of another tragic accident that occurred just last June 23 on the Palermo-Sciacca road, where a 16-month-old boy, held in the arms of a 20-year-old woman, died alongside the young woman.

In Villabate, locals recall that two years ago, Brusa, driving a Fiat Punto, collided with four parked cars on Viale Europa. It was not night then, but only 10 AM.

"We are truly devastated by what happened," says Mayor Gaetano Di Chiara. "This is news we never want to receive. I express the community's condolences. What happened should make us deeply reflect on the risks of driving."

"The irresponsibility, the recklessness. One cannot die like this," stated Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini on social media. He renewed "the call to Parliament to finally approve the new Highway Code (currently in the Senate after approval by the Chamber): everyone must do their part to counter the unacceptable slaughter on Italian roads."