Diary from L'Aquila

The last missing student is extracted from the building that has become one of the symbol of this earthquake, that media have already renamed ground zero, the single spot where most young victims were extracted. These students were the most proficient, acceptance to the Casa dello Studente is for brilliant students from low-budget families. A pitiless Nemesis went in search for innocent victims for the sacrifice, the finest youth from innocent, decent families were the payment for the faults of the law, of justice, of the politicians, of the Aquilan Gomorra.

People keep saying that someone must pay, pay for the bad project, for the cheap materials, the landowners who let out rooms in unsafe constructions, the lack of controls... guilt is shared among individuals and institutions alike, yes the law will take its course, some of the guilty ones will receive their lawful punishment. But what has happened will not change - a lesson for the future? Human greed is very fast to take new forms and find new ways. Their crimes have already been paid for, dearly, and the youth's families will continue to pay every single moment of what life is left to them.

A dozen young, bright boys and girls, whose future until 6 April seemed a long highway of discoveries and achievements, were crushed by the 30 gold pieces given to Judas by the priests of the Temple. Judas hanging himself will not bring them back. That place must become a lighthouse for our society, a memorial to teach government that schools to which we trust our future must be the safest places, whatever the costs, and must be guarded and protected "con le unghie e con i denti" - with claws and teeth - as each mother in the animal kingdom does with the future generation.