Porto Sant’Elpidio (Fermo), June 7, 2026 – Three lives shattered in a few seconds, two families destroyed and an entire city united in grief. The tragedy of Porto Sant’Elpidio is not just the story of a collapsed building after a violent explosion, but that of lives suddenly broken and of a community that rallied around the victims’ families. Alongside the pain of relatives and friends, strong institutional closeness was shown from the very first hours, from the Municipality to the highest levels of the Region and the government. Those who lost their lives in the collapse of the building, which occurred around 5 yesterday morning, were Giuseppe Pieroni, 48 years old, Ettorina Paccapelo, 89 years old, and her son Romano Cerquetti, 60 years old. Three different stories united by the same tragic fate.
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Giuseppe, reserved and kind
Pieroni lived on the second floor of the building with his parents Savino Pieroni and Vittoria Lanciotti, who survived the collapse. A computer scientist, partner of Tcp in Fermo, he was known for his reserved and kind nature. Passionate about e-bike excursions in the Sibillini mountains, yesterday morning he was supposed to meet friends for one of the outings he loved so much. Instead, he was surprised in his sleep by the explosion.
The tragedy of mother and son
On the lower floor lived Romano Cerquetti and his mother Ettorina Paccapelo. A discreet family, well-known in the neighborhood. She, elderly but still present in the life of the area, was often seen walking with the aid of a stick. He ran a farm. He had not married and had dedicated his life to work and caring for his mother. Romano was extracted alive from the rubble after rescuers heard a moan coming from the pile of debris. Transferred in desperate conditions to Torrette hospital in Ancona, he died in the afternoon. A few minutes earlier, the lifeless body of his mother Ettorina, who had been buried under the rubble for over ten hours, had been recovered. The first to arrive after the collapse of the building were the firefighters from Fermo and Civitanova Marche. On the second-floor balcony, they found Savino Pieroni and Vittoria Lanciotti, cold, injured, and in shock. They kept asking for news of their son Giuseppe without knowing that he was already the first victim of the tragedy.
Premier Meloni’s message of condolence
While rescuers worked tirelessly among the rubble, Porto Sant’Elpidio found itself united in grief. Among the first to arrive on the scene was Mayor Massimiliano Ciarpella, who followed the operations throughout the day. “It is an indescribable pain for our community,” he declared. Also arriving at the scene of the tragedy were Prefect Edoardo D’Alascio and the President of the Marche Region, Francesco Acquaroli, who spoke of an “unexpected and dramatic tragedy, capable of affecting the entire Marche community.” A message of deep condolence and closeness to the victims’ families came from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, while Palazzo Chigi followed the evolution of the operations. Now remains the silence of a wounded city and the time for investigations, aimed at clarifying the causes of the disaster. Among the hypotheses are a gas leak or the explosion of a cylinder.
