Bondeno (Ferrara), July 31, 2026 – Saves the girls and sinks into the river. A summer day that was supposed to be peaceful with family, on that beach that the drought of the great river created in Calto, in the province of Rovigo, turned into a terrible drama. A 36-year-old man, of Moldovan origin and residing in Bologna, was still missing in the waters last night after performing an act of extreme heroism to save the life of his daughter and another girl. The alarm was raised early yesterday afternoon along the beach of the Calto floodplain, in Polesine.
The two families were spending a sunny day by the river
The two families were spending a sunny day by the river when the man’s youngest daughter, a 6-year-old girl, was playing ball with the neighbor’s daughter, a 10-year-old girl. Suddenly the ball fell into the water and the youngest girl went into the river to retrieve it, immediately finding herself in serious trouble due to the currents and unable to reach the shore. In a desperate attempt to help her, the 10-year-old friend also jumped into the water, ending up trapped by the force of the current. Noticing that both girls were in danger, the 36-year-old father did not hesitate for a second and jumped into the Po.
He saved the two girls
With great courage and physical effort he managed to reach the two girls and push them safely to the shore, saving them. However, immediately after completing the rescue, the man sank and disappeared beneath the waves without resurfacing. As soon as the emergency was triggered, the rescue operation was fully activated. Among the first to arrive promptly on the scene, with men, vehicles, and a rubber boat, were the volunteer firefighters from the Bondeno station, who immediately began surface searches.
Relentless searches
Together with them, the firefighters from the Castelmassa station intervened, supported by the helicopter from the Bologna Flight Department which transported two divers to the intervention site for an initial emergency phase. The water operations then continued nonstop with the arrival of firefighters’ divers from Mestre, engaged in scouring the riverbed. Carabinieri also arrived on site to reconstruct the details of the event and Suem 118 personnel to assist the family and the girls, understandably in shock. Despite the relentless searches conducted with the helicopter, the rubber boats and the divers, the man had not yet been found by last night. Operations continue.
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