Two researchers test-driving hybrid car killed in explosion: Italy
An experimental hybrid vehicle detonates during a test drive in Naples, southern Italy, killing two researchers.
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Italian highway patrol officers man a roadblock, June 29, 2023 (AFP)
A Volkswagen Polo TDI exploded on the ring road around Naples on Friday of last week.
The contents of two gas cylinders inside the car, which are thought to be what ignited the explosion, are being looked into by the fire department.
Fulvio Filace, a trainee, passed away on Wednesday night, according to the National Research Council (NRC). He suffered third-degree burns covering 70% of his body, and doctors had to induce a coma.
Maria Vittoria Prati, a 66-year-old researcher who specialized in the analysis of emissions and the use of alternative fuels, passed away on Monday. She was driving the car while Filace was in the passenger seat.
The public prosecutor's office in Naples has launched a homicide and fire investigation and confiscated a prototype of the vehicle, according to Italy's AGI news agency.
The NRC expressed "sorrow" and "dismay", adding that it was launching an internal probe. "The loss of two lives, all the more so in such dramatic circumstances, has a profound impact on the scientific community throughout Italy," it said.
The car was being used as part of a European research project. According to AGI, it was designed to test an electric motor with batteries supplied by solar panels on automobiles with internal combustion engines.
