The family of a ‘beautiful’ young boy crushed to death by an iron gate on holiday face an agonising five-year wait for answers.
Angelo Quirino, from Manchester, was visiting family near Rome when the freak accident happened this summer. The youngster was preparing for a day trip to the beach when the 6ft-high electric gate was 6ft high – weighing 882lbs – collapsed on top of him.
His uncle and neighbours near the property they had hired in Anzio, 40 miles south of the capital, rushed to help after hearing screams, but found him unconscious.
An air ambulance was scrambled to the scene and medics tried to resuscitate the youngster to no avail for more than 45 minutes.
Both a criminal investigation and civil proceedings are now under way in Italy. The gate will be examined by experts to find out how it fell, but the family have been warned it could be up to five years before they come to any kind of resolution.
Angelo Quirino (front) with mother Roberta, brother Diego and younger sister on holiday in Anzio, Italy. This is the last family picture taken before Angelo died in a gate tragedy
The four-year-old boy was crushed to death after a 450lb iron gate fell on him while he played
Angelo (pictured left bottom, with his mother Roberta Host, older brother and baby sister and right, with his parents) was visiting family when the freak accident happened
Fighting back tears, his father Adamo, also known to friends as Amedeo, said: ‘I don’t think this feeling will ever go away. It’s like a part of your soul is missing’ he said.
‘We just have to try and stick together. But it is so hard. It still makes me angry, angry with God. You look back and think there can’t be any reason or explanation for something like this.
‘Things just won’t be the same without him, but I have to remain strong for my family. I think faith is the only thing that can help you.’
Angelo had been with his mother Roberta Host, brother Diego, eight, and eight-month-old sister Linda on a two-week break in the coastal city of Anzio.
Adamo, who works as a croupier at the Grosvenor Casino, had remained in Manchester to work but was due to join them on the trip a week later.
Roberta and other relatives were just a few yards away from the four-year-old when the gate to their rented holiday home collapsed unexpectedly.
Today, his family spoke about their heartache for the first time and share the last picture of little Angelo on holiday
Angelo, pictured with his mother. He was on holiday with his mother, brother and little sister
Emergency services rushed to the scene but sadly the youngster could not be saved.
Adamo recalled how he dropped everything to make the nightmare scramble from Manchester to the Italian city, in a journey wracked with anguish and disbelief.
Adamo said: ‘I was here alone when Roberta phoned me. I had to ask a friend to come round and help me book tickets because I was shaking so much, I couldn’t even use the keyboard.
‘It was the worst and longest journey of my life. I felt so powerless and so far away from them.
Angelo Quirino pictured on the flight with his mum Roberta and family flying to Italy
‘Also, knowing I wasn’t there in his last moments. I had the same a year ago when I was told on the phone my dad had died.
When I heard the same again about my son, I just couldn’t believe it or take it in.
‘It just didn’t feel real, I kept telling myself this can’t be true. It was like I was in a different reality.
‘I arrived the following afternoon and straight away said “where are they” and hugged them all together. And I told them, no one is guilty, this is no one’s fault.’
His Italian parents moved to Crumpsall, Manchester, two years ago to raise their family and start a new life in Britain.
Angelo attended Abraham Moss nursery and had been due to start in reception at nearby St Anne’s Primary School in September.
Adamo said the emotion and psychological scars of what happened are still very raw for the whole family.
He said: ‘He was just so full of life and always so present. Everything we did, he did it with us. If I went to Tesco at 10pm to buy some milk, he would come with me.
‘And he was always happy and smiling. He was top of the class at nursery and he was so excited to start at the same school as Diego. He used to love coming to pick him up with me.
‘He loved it here. But he would have been happy on the North Pole as long as we were with him.’
Adamo said the emotion and psychological scars of what happened are still very raw for the whole family
Angelo attended Abraham Moss nursery and had been due to start in reception at nearby St Anne’s Primary School in September
More than £2,500 was raised for the family in a crowdfunding campaign, set up by close friend Imma Totaro in the aftermath of the tragedy to help pay for funeral costs.
Angelo’s funeral took place shortly after his death and was attended by hundreds of people. He was buried in Anzio close to the rest of his family.
Angelo translates in English as Angel and the family plans to have ‘My name is Angelo and I am an angel’ – something the youngster used to regularly say – inscribed on his gravestone.
A memorial service for Angelo carried out by an Italian priest was held at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Manchester city centre on Sunday.
And the family say they would like to open a facility such as a children’s centre, named after their young son, at some point in the future.
Thanking the community, Adamo said: ‘We would like to thank everyone for all their support, in Italy, but here in Manchester as well.
‘It’s meant a lot and has helped ease the pain a little bit at least.’