"Never again" is the message that the survivors and relatives of the victims of the Rigopiano tragedy delivered today to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who received them at Palazzo Chigi.

The meeting lasted for an hour and a half, with stories told through tears recalling that January 18th nightmare six years ago when the fury of an avalanche overwhelmed the exclusive hotel a stone's throw from Farindola in the province of Pescara, leaving 29 dead.

“The meeting went very well,” said Gianluca Tanda, a relative of one of the victims, as he left Palazzo Chigi.

“We have exposed our problems, we have told our story ... the paradox of this justice.

“Obviously you cannot intervene on the matter, but we have made proposals, even at a national level, proposals from the National Committee to which we belong.

“One above all is to set up a prosecutor at a national level that deals with the great Italian tragedies, which moves where there is a massacre precisely to prevent what happened to us from happening.

“We have tried to imagine a country without similar tragedies, it can be done, we can start taking the first steps.”

Tanda spoke highly of his conversation with Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.

“It was a pleasant chat, where we also discussed the problem of deaths at work, because five of our loved ones didn’t have this right recognised,” he said.

“But we did all this not for ourselves, but so that what happened to us doesn't happen again.

“We did it for all those who will come after, for that 'never again' that we wrote on those banners," he said, referencing signs that appeared in many demonstrations and before the court. 

"It was precisely the mothers, who lost everything, who wanted to write it next to the photos of their loved ones, which stand out in all our events."

"Obviously we will be present on [the 5th and 6th of April] in L'Aquila for the anniversary of the earthquake that struck Abruzzo, causing 309 deaths,” Tanda continued.

“As a national committee, we will make our point and explain our solutions.

“Then we will definitely meet again with Meloni, to better plan the goals we want to set.

“The prime minister has not made any commitments, she has told us that she will work and be attentive to our situation, she will listen to our requests which we will now write and send very soon,” concluded Tanda.

ANSA