View of Lake Vico from the air (archive image).Image: www.imago-images.de
Italy looks spellbound at Lake Vico. A possible accident occurred there at the weekend that directly affects the Italian Minister for Family Affairs.
June 28, 2026, 8:44 p.mJune 28, 2026, 8:44 p.m
Mark Stoffers / t-online
A boat trip on Lake Vico in Lazio could turn into a tragedy for Italy’s Family Minister Eugenia Roccella. According to the Italian news agency Ansa, her husband Luigi Cavallari only briefly emerged from the water after jumping from the boat and then disappeared without a trace.
The alarm was triggered on Saturday around 5 p.m. Since then, diving units from the Rome fire department, which were flown to the lake by helicopter, have been searching the waters for the 84-year-old.
Tragedy surrounding a minister in Italy? Husband disappeared
“Visibility is extremely poor, almost zero, even at shallow depths, and temperatures become unbearable as depth increases.” This is how Andrea Caputo, the deputy prefect of Viterbo, summarized the search for the minister’s husband in the Italian medium “La Reppubblicca”.
The situation makes the ongoing search efforts considerably more difficult. These are carried out using the latest technology and by emergency services and divers from the Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza. They support the firefighters. The hopes of finding Cavallari alive are now slim.
“Cold shock” as a possible cause of the disappearance
Even on Sunday, the search was unsuccessful despite the proximity to the coast. After an initial reconstruction of the accident, Luigi Cavallari jumped from the small boat into the water to cool off. When he resurfaced, he only had the strength to say he wasn’t feeling well, but was unable to climb back on board or hold on to the edge of the boat, which was not anchored. Minister Roccella was unable to grab him and instead immediately called for help.
According to “La Repubblicca”, a possible cause of the minister’s husband’s unwellness could have been “cold shock”. The lake’s water is cold and Cavallari may have been swept away by the currents as a result. The minister was returned to her parents’ home near Viterbo, where she and her two children await news of the search.
Lake Vico in Lazio is a little insider tip for holidaymakers
Lake Vico is the heart of the nature reserve of the same name. Over time, a few riverside cafés, holiday apartments and a hotel have settled on the south bank, which specializes primarily in Roman wedding parties and larger family celebrations.
Because the tourism authority does not support expanding the infrastructure around Lago di Vico for reasons of landscape protection, the lake has remained a little insider tip among holidaymakers to this day.
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