On Wednesday, October 22, 2025, the Belgian Royals accompanied the first Italian charge to the site of the third-largest tragedy in history (136 deaths), after those in the United States of Monongah (Virginia, 171) and Dawson (New Mexico, 146). We like to remember that 2006 Giro that brought the convoy to Bois de Cazier.
The sensitivity that distinguishes his personality could only lead President Sergio Mattarella to visit Le Bois du Cazier for a heartfelt tribute to the memory of the victims of what is known as the Marcinelle tragedy. And with it, the hearts of the descendants—both locally and back home—of those 136 Italians who died, along with 126 others of various nationalities, out of a total of 275 present that day in the coal mine just a stone's throw from Charleroi, were also touched.
It was August 8, 1956, and a cursed electric spark caused the high-pressure oil used for the excavations to catch fire.
Italian immigrants in Belgium represented a kind of exchange: our people provided labor in coal mining, and Brussels guaranteed energy to Rome in return. Ten years earlier, the "Italo-Belgian Protocol" committed Italy to providing 50.000 workers to a country that, while relatively small and spared no casualties during the Second World War, was rich in resources to be uncovered.
In 1956, there were approximately 44.000 Italian miners in Belgium (almost 90% of the number established by the 1946 Protocol) compared to the 142.000 foreigners conscripted into Belgium, mainly in Wallonia, a land of mines and foundries (steelworks): practically 70% of all immigrants employed in those parts.
Shortly after 8 o'clock on that cursed August 8th, a beam inside Shaft II (or ski lift, if you prefer) cuts a pressurized oil cable, a spark starts the fire and it is the ... third disaster in the history of tragedies of Italian workers abroad after those of Monongah (Virginia, United States of America, 6 December 1907 with 250 victims, of which 171 Italians, mainly from Abruzzo and Molise) and Dawson (New Mexico, United States of America, 22 October 1913, with 263 miners killed of which 146 Italians).
Summarizing the numbers of missing Italians: 171 in Monongah, 146 in Dawson, 136 in Marcinelle.
We can well understand the emotion of Sergio Mattarella who, accompanied by His Majesty King Philippe of the Belgians and Her Majesty Queen Mathilde, visited Bois du Cazier on 22 October 2025, a place symbolic of Italy's sacrifices and those sacrificed in the name of the homeland and of the first steps of the European Community, which blossomed with the Comecon, the Council for Common Economic Assistance, dated 1949.
When the Marcinelle tragedy occurred, the President was 15 years old, so he experienced it firsthand while already quite grown up. We were still in our cradles, but first our schoolbooks and then dedicated readings helped us understand the heart of that tragedy, so much so that as soon as the opportunity arose (and the need to grow it as an international brand) to bring the Giro d'Italia to Wallonia, we didn't need much convincing to embrace the project, which was bounced from Liège to the Milan headquarters of Gazzetta dello Sport, the mother of the Giro d'Italia.
A quick visit to those parts well known for the Spring Classics, a meeting at the Prince-Bishops' Palace in Liège, lunch near Wanze, a meeting at the quintessential "Vitrerie" in Seraing, a tour of the Dufrasne stadium, and there you have it, the Grande Partenza of the 2006 Giro, which in our opinion marked the watershed between the Before and After of Tour de France-style Grande Partenzas.
The start is with the Seraing-Seraing individual time trial (Liège Metropolitan) on May 6th, followed by the Mons-Charleroi stage the following day… with headquarters inside the Bois du Cazier buildings, dark with their wood tempered by time and coal dust. A touch to the soul, within the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which also pays homage to Italian (and international) immigrants who perished for a greater cause.
Without wishing to upset anyone, Italy's mainstream media failed to capture and publicize Sergio Mattarella's emotion. The Marcinelle massacre is a monument to the sacrifice of those who met their deaths, forced to leave Abruzzo, Marche, Molise, and the surrounding regions to seek food elsewhere. And instead of finding life, they found death.
It's no coincidence that the 2006 Giro included a stage from Civitanova Marche to Passolanciano, passing through Lettomanoppello on the way to Maielletta. Most of the experts in Marcinelle came from there. Just for the record: Robbie McEwen won in Charleroi, and Ivan Basso (who had won in the pink jersey in Milan before being caught up in the Operation Puerto scandal) prevailed in Passolanciano.
Paolo Savoldelli, Robbie McEwen, Paolo Bettini, Ivan Basso: these were the names that characterized that 89th Giro d'Italia, along with the celebration in Pontedera of the Vespa's 60th anniversary with a time trial that started right inside the Piaggio factory where the first engine of the world's most fascinating scooter was assembled… Everything was tied to the tribute to those 136 Italian victims of the Marcinelle tragedy. Because—as we know—the future is always built on memory!
Mattarella's face and his speech should be printed in a podcast to be broadcast in schools of all levels, provided that the Ministry of Education and Merit... decides to address the issue and grant students smartphone use for a few minutes.
Are we irreverent?
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