Autopsy procedures have commenced on the two individuals who died from botulism poisoning after consuming sausage and broccoli rabe sandwiches purchased from a food truck in Diamante. The Paola Public Prosecutor’s Office appointed the team of specialist consultants overseeing the operations.
The appointed specialists divided into two groups. One team will perform the autopsy in Catanzaro on Tamara D’Acunto, a 45-year-old woman from Diamante who died on Wednesday, August 6, 2025. This requires the prior exhumation of her body from the cemetery in Cirella, a hamlet of Diamante, where she was buried following her funeral the day after her death.
The other forensic experts will conduct the autopsy on Luigi Di Santo, a 52-year-old man from Cercola in the Naples metropolitan area. His examination will take place at the San Giovanni Hospital in Lagonegro (Potenza). Di Santo died near the Lagonegro motorway exit while driving home.
The consultant pool includes specialists from the Magna Græcia University of Catanzaro and the National Reference Centre for Botulism at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS).
The Paola Prosecutor’s Office, led by Chief Prosecutor Domenico Fiordalisi and with Deputy Prosecutor Maria Porcelli coordinating the investigation, continues its inquiry to determine any criminal liability. Authorities are currently awaiting further analysis from the ISS, which recently confirmed the botulism diagnosis through laboratory tests on the first three samples taken from patients admitted to the Annunziata Hospital in Cosenza.