Rieti: brother and driver killed, we never imagined we would lose him like this

Milan, 28 October (LaPresse) – Raffaele Marianella “was an open, cheerful person. No one could have imagined after 30 years travelling around Rome that what happened would happen.” This was said to LaPresse by Massimo Marianella, brother of the 65-year-old and prior of the Abbey of Piona, in the province of Lecco, after the funeral held today in the church of San Sebastiano in Via della Stazione in Cesano. The 65-year-old, the second driver of the bus carrying Pistoia Basket fans, was killed in the attack on the bus on 19 October. ‘He worked as a tour operator throughout Europe and was close to retirement,’ recalled Father Massimo, who celebrated the funeral in a ceremony that was “well attended and, despite the media coverage, not too crowded. The bishop said some very appropriate words, not just for the occasion. “We were as close as we could be, living 200 km apart,” added Marianella. ‘He had been living in Florence lately, and even when I went down to Rome, we couldn’t see each other. He didn’t even manage to come and see me in Piona; there was no opportunity.