Brennero Ferry Incident Sees Truck Sink into Lake Garda, No Injuries
Brennero Ferry Incident
The incident that occurred yesterday morning in the waters off Riva is truly incredible: the Brennero ferry, having just set sail toward Limone, lost a truck loaded with timber. After five minutes of travel, the vehicle slipped into the water and sank before the eyes of the driver, 58-year-old Giovanni Ferrari from Arco, owner of a sawmill and a well-known local figure.
It was 6:25 a.m. when the ferry launched its moorings after loading the last passenger: Ferrari’s Fiat 140, loaded with 25 cubic meters of timber planks destined for building sites in Brescia. It seemed like a typical journey—the first of 44 runs that, with the western Gardesana route closed, Navigarda’s vessels have been conducting daily for months connecting Limone to Riva.
Suddenly, however, as they reached in front of the Hotel Excelsior, something that no one could have expected happened: the heavy three-axle vehicle equipped with a crane started moving backward and, in the blink of an eye, disappeared beneath the dark waters of Lake Garda with its entire load.
Fortunately, Giovanni Ferrari had just exited the control cabin, but in a desperate attempt to halt the “suicidal” reverse movement of the vehicle, he tried to get back behind the wheel. Realizing that this action was dangerously risking his life unnecessarily, Ferrari conceded and leapt off the vehicle just moments before it was too late.
His agility and quick leap prevented the incident from resulting in far more serious consequences than mere material damage. Catching what was happening, the ferry crew immediately raised the alarm: within moments, a small boat was launched from the shore that took Giovanni Ferrari onboard and brought him to land, while the ferry continued its route toward Limone.
Response and consequences
On the scene of the incident, the carabinieri boat and the Riva fire brigade intervened. The former verified that no one was injured and listened to Ferrari, the ferry captain, and witnesses of the event; the latter collected the timber load that, during the fall, had detached from the truck and was floating dangerously at the water’s surface.
Now, the heavy vehicle rests over 100 meters below the Garda lakebed.
