Lifeguard Filippo (33) tragically died in the accident

Drivers alerted the local emergency services after a vehicle crashed into the edge of the road divider at the Lana exit on the Meran-Bozen expressway shortly after five o'clock on Friday morning. Firefighters who were immediately dispatched spoke of a “picture of disaster”. The car was badly damaged and the driver was trapped.

Rescue crews located the victim at the scene and were able to extricate him from the damaged vehicle using hydraulic equipment. According to preliminary estimates, the accident may have been caused by falling asleep.

According to Italian media such as Rainews.it and Stol.it, the deceased was Filippo G. The 33-year-old from Tuscany was previously known in the area for saving lives on several occasions.

“Il Gazzettino del Chianti” writes that in March 2021 he saved a family with two children from death in the municipality of Bolzano. As a supplier to a restaurant, he noticed smoke while driving in San Candido and immediately called the fire department. After a while he ran home and alerted the residents. “I screamed at the top of my lungs, but no one answered,” he later said. The house was already in danger of collapsing when the family living there finally heeded the warning calls.

According to Filippo, the parents were in shock, which is why he pulled their two small children out of the burning house. Thanks to the emergency services and Filippo who arrived in the meantime, no one was injured in the fire.

In June 2023, Italian newspapers again reported on the heroic rescue of the recently deceased. His colleague, 33-year-old Luca R. Together, he managed to prevent a man from committing suicide in Florence who wanted to throw himself from a bridge over the Stream of Mignon.