Lake Garda accident: Munich accused - witnesses report champagne, wine, vodka and beer

Created: 12/16/2021, 8:30 PM

From: Julia Volkenand

A view of the court in Brescia.

© Antonio Calanni / AP / dpa / archive image

The trial of the fatal boat accident on Lake Garda is in full swing.

Witnesses now testified that the defendants were probably under the influence of alcohol.

Brescia - Nine days of negotiations are scheduled in the trial against two tourists from Munich after the fatal motorboat accident on Lake Garda.

More details about the tragedy emerged at the December 16 trial.

The two Munich residents are accused of running over a wooden boat with their motorboat in the late evening of June 19, killing an Italian couple.

The negotiation will take place in Brescia.

An expert from the police reported on Thursday of various fabric fibers that were found on the hull of the German boat.

According to investigations, these matched the fabric of Umberto Garzarella's swimming trunks and the clothes of Greta Nedrotti, the two victims.

Lake Garda accident: two people died in a motorboat collision

This suggests that the Italians were hit directly by the German motorboat in the collision on June 19.

As far as we know, Garzarella was dead immediately, his girlfriend fell from the boat and drowned.

The two Bavarians drove on without stopping.

Apparently they thought they had rammed a piece of driftwood.

At least that's what they said later that evening, as one restaurant owner testified.

Apparently, her boat had suffered so much damage that it threatened to sink at the pier in Salò.

The alleged driver of the motorboat, who is under house arrest in Italy, could face a prison sentence of five years.

Fatal accident on Lake Garda: Witness speaks of alcoholism

As on the first day of the trial, he was present in the courtroom, but made no statement himself.

His friend, who owned the luxury boat, was represented by lawyers.

According to the indictment, the two were drunk and far too fast on the lake.

After the alleged driver of the motorboat had asked the bereaved for forgiveness on the sidelines of the start of the trial in November and there had been intense scenes, the testimony was now pending.

It also got emotional in the courtroom of the Palazzo di Giustizia in Brescia: When a policeman talked about how he found the body of Umberto Garzarella in the boat, his father buried his face in his hands.

The relatives had white roses with them as pins and souvenirs of the dead.

Lake Garda accident: Witnesses report a lot of alcohol

In the fatal motorboat accident on Lake Garda in the summer, the two alleged perpetrators from Germany were very drunk, according to witnesses. The witnesses testified that they wanted to have seen the Germans in bars and restaurants the afternoon and evening before the accident, how they consumed large amounts of alcohol and looked increasingly drunk. There was talk of champagne, wine, vodka and beer on Thursday. An eyewitness testified that the boat driver stumbled against a lamp post after docking. A restaurant worker said the man was bleeding from his mouth and appeared "unconscious". But he refused to be taken to a hospital by an ambulance. He wore wet clothes - a surveillance video showshow he fell backwards over the boat into the lake when mooring in the harbor, reports the dpa.

A police officer who was involved in the investigation reported the morning after the accident when he visited the two men in their hotel rooms.

He noticed the strong smell of alcohol in the room.