Mystery of the Maratea Inferno

The charred body of a 19-year-old was found late last night in a ravine in Maratea (Potenza), on the border with Sapri (Salerno), where a fire had occurred. Investigations are underway by the carabinieri, coordinated by the Lagonegro (Potenza) Prosecutor's Office, to ascertain the causes of the fire that led to the young man's death. Among the elements being analyzed by investigators is the presence of a car, probably driven by the young man, which was left at the roadside near the scene of the fire, along the state road 18 Tirrena Inferiore. What happened: The 19-year-old, who died charred late last night in Maratea, is believed to have set himself on fire with gasoline from a can found near the corpse. Initial reconstructions by the carabinieri of the Lauria Company, coordinated by the Lagonegro Prosecutor's Office, make suicide the most likely hypothesis. The young man, originally from the province of Salerno, stopped his car along state road 18 in a panoramic lay-by on the Tyrrhenian Sea: inside, the carabinieri - according to what has been learned - found the keys in the dashboard, the cell phone, and documents. He then allegedly climbed over the wall of the lay-by and near a ravine doused himself with gasoline. There are weeds in the area that caught fire. The absence of wooded area near the lay-by would rule out the possibility that the young man wanted to start a fire. Investigators are analyzing the young man's last hours of life and his personal and family situation. There is no evidence, at least for now, of the involvement of other people.