Italians Shocked After Sunbathers Relax on Beach Near Dead Bodies

[Pudge]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,387443,00.html


Naples — Photographs that depict Italian sunbathers relaxing at the beach despite the nearby presence of the bodies of two Gypsy girls who had drowned, have raised questions about Italian attitudes toward the Roma minority, The U.K. Guardian reported.
The incident took place outside of Naples on Saturday. At about 1 p.m., four Gypsy teens, who had reportedly been begging beachgoers, decided to go into the water, despite apparently not being able to swim.
The girls were hit by an unusually large wave, resulting in an attempted rescue by life-savers from a nearby beach. Two of the girls were saved. The other two, aged 14 and 16, could not be reached in time, The Guardian reported.
Following their drowning, the bodies of the two girls were dragged ashore and laid out under beach towels, The Guardian said.
But Italian media later reported that the deaths of the girls and the presence of their bodies did not stop the sunbathers from enjoying their day at the beach, as most continued with their activities.
According to The Guardian, Italy is reportedly plagued by anti-Gypsy sentiments.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica wrote, "While the lifeless bodies of the girls were still on the sand, there were those who carried on sunbathing or having lunch just a few metres away."

[Five-0]

I too have eaten lunch in close proximity of dead bodies. What is the big deal? If they are already dead what else are you going to do? At least they didn't stand around gawking and poking the bodies with a stick. This is a story begging for someone to be offended because the victims were a minority. Yeah, it was a long day today. Sue me.

[Willowdared]

Not to be too cynical, but after what I saw during my trip to Rome, I suspect they were probably pick-pocketing as well as begging.

Diversion tactic gone very wrong?

We having drownings at the beach on a regular basis, uninvolved people continue their day while someone is given CPR and airlifted away all the time.

[Five-0]

I see you have dealt with gypsys. (sp)

[Willowdared]

I see you have dealt with gypsys. (sp)

Just as a witness. We were at the Colosseum, and a group of kids...8 to 14 were hanging out. The younger kids approached a couple people to ask for money. An older kid tried to steal one of their wallets while they were distracted. When the potential victims realized what was going on, they grabbed both kids and started giving them a beat down and the other kids took off running.

When we told another guest at our hotel about it, they said it was a big problem around all the tourist areas.

Whether it's just gypsies, or juvie gang-bangers is another story.

[Jenna]

A lot depends on whether this is normal behavior around dead bodies in Italy--too bad we don't have Italian LEOs here to tell us whether it is.