Paita acquitted of Genoa flood charges

(ANSA) - Genoa, October 21 - Liguria ex-regional civil protection councilor Raffaella Paita was acquitted Friday of manslaughter and negligent disaster charges over a 2014 flood that claimed one life in Genoa and caused millions in damage.
    A preliminary hearings judge also indicted former civil protection chief Gabriella Minervini on the same charges over the the October 9, 2014, flood. Her trial will begin on March 14.
    The prosecution had requested an eight-year prison term for Paita, who is from the center-left Democratic Party (PD) of Premier Matteo Renzi. The two officials were accused of failing to raise the alarm prior to the flash floods in Genoa that killed retired nurse Antonio Campanella and covered the port city in mud.
    Campanella, 57, was swept away by floodwater after the Bisagno River, Genoa's main waterway, burst its banks.
    Flood-protection systems were not completed in Genoa despite a disaster that killed six people in 2011, compounding anger over the flooding and mudslides that caused millions of euros in damage.
    While 35 million euros had been earmarked for shoring up the city, projects became bogged down in legal wrangles and red tape.