Decades after the earthquake that devastated parts of Campania and Basilicata, a rescuer from Emilia has issued a public appeal to find a young woman he helped pull alive from the ruins at Senerchia.

The man is Enzo Ugolotti, a rescue-dog trainer from Emilia, who took part in relief operations at Senerchia after the earthquake of 23 November 1980. According to reports in the Irpinia local press, Ugolotti says he extracted a girl named Liberata alive from beneath the rubble and now hopes to re-establish contact with her.

The name reported for the survivor is Liberata Sessa, although that identification has not been independently confirmed in the material available.

A rescue at Senerchia

Two independent local reports describe the same core account: Ugolotti reached the Sele Valley area in the days after the earthquake and worked with rescue dogs among collapsed buildings at Senerchia.

A historical account of the Parma relief team adds further detail. It states that the dogs located survivors at Senerchia and that a girl named Liberata was extracted alive after prolonged work in the rubble. That account describes Liberata as the only person its team successfully extracted alive.

One of the later newspaper reports states that Ugolotti left Emilia on 25 November 1980. The exact date and time of Liberata's extraction differ in detail between the rescue account and the later newspaper reports, so a precise chronology cannot be established from the sources acquired.

The appeal to the Valle del Sele

The appeal is directed to people in Senerchia, Calabritto, and the wider Valle del Sele who may know Liberata or the Sessa family.

Ugolotti's message, as reported, is direct: she was alive under the rubble, he spoke to her while rescuers dug, and he wants to know what became of her after that day.

It is not confirmed in the available sources whether Liberata has been located since the appeal was published.

The context of 23 November 1980

The rescue took place in catastrophic conditions. The Italian Civil Protection Department records the 23 November 1980 earthquake at magnitude 6.9, with severe damage and disrupted communications complicating emergency response.

Senerchia suffered severe damage and was among the areas affected by landslides, according to the same official source. That combination of collapsed buildings, unstable ground, and broken communications shaped the first days of relief work in the interior of Irpinia.

What remains unverified

Several points remain open:

  • The surname Sessa is reported by the local press, but no independent confirmation of the survivor's full identity was found in the acquired documents.
  • Her exact age at the time of the earthquake and her current age are not independently established.
  • No direct interview with Liberata, and no official rescue record for this individual extraction, was found in the acquired documents.

For readers in Senerchia and nearby communities, the verifiable details are therefore the first name, Liberata, the place, Senerchia, the circumstance, extraction alive from the rubble by the Emilia/Parma rescue-dog team, and the name of the rescuer now searching for her, Enzo Ugolotti.