The head of Italy’s disaster body, Luciano Maiani, has stepped down after seven colleagues were sentenced for their roles before the L’Aquila quake.
Six scientists and an ex-government official were convicted of multiple manslaughter for giving a falsely reassuring statement.
The 6.3 magnitude quake killed 309 people and left the city in ruins.
Mr Maiani, a physicist, said the Serious Risks Commission could not work “in such difficult conditions”.
Speaking to Italy’s Ansa news agency, he spoke of the “impossibility” of working calmly and providing high-quality scientific advice after the court’s verdict.
“These are professionals who spoke in good faith and were by no means motivated by personal interests, they had always said that it is not possible to predict an earthquake,” he told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
“This is the end of scientists giving consultations to the state,” warned Mr Maiani, a world-renowned physicist who was director general of the Cern nuclear research centre in Switzerland from 1999-2003.
Ansa said resignations were also likely from the commission’s vice president Mauro Rosi and its emeritus president.
BBC has the full article
