Two university students blamed for a forest fire in the Italian region of Como have been fined €13.5m (£11.7m).
The men, both aged 22, were barbecuing at a mountain forest home belonging to one of their grandfathers when the fire broke out on 30 December last year.
The huge bill for the two students was calculated by local officials based on a formula used to determine the extent of damage caused by the fire.
One of the students told Italian media they were “scapegoats” for the blaze.
Speaking to Italy’s La Stampa newspaper, one of the students declared themselves “deeply sorry” – but said there were multiple sources of the outbreak.
“We are the scapegoats of a fire that cannot be explained,” he said, adding: “We are the real victims of this story.
“[We] immediately alerted the fire brigade and threw ourselves at the flames to try and put them out.”
Prosecutors, however, traced the path of the fire back to the property and said it had been started by embers from the barbecue, coupled with extremely dry conditions. The two young men were found jointly responsible, along with the owner of the property.
Dal #3gen sono stati 318 i lanci di acqua, sostanze ritardanti e liquido schiumogeno effettuati dai #canadair della flotta aerea nazionale dei #vigilidelfuoco sugli incendi boschivi di #Como e #Varese pic.twitter.com/VIN4AJj0oO
— Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) January 7, 2019
