One of Italy's oldest nursing homes is under investigation for manslaughter following the deaths of hundreds of residents during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Pio Albergo Trivulzio has been a center for the elderly for more than a century, but staff and patients allege that from March through to May, COVID-19 spread quickly between residents and patients because security precautions were not followed stringently.

Alessandro Azzoni has founded the Justice and Truth Committee for the victims of the Trivulzio and has been trying to unite relatives of the residents to find out what happened inside the home.

Alessandro's mother, Marisa, was one of thousands of residents living at Trivulzio and contracted the virus while under the care of the institution. She is now in critical condition in a Milanese hospital.

He said: "We have asked many times: how many people died in the facility? They never gave us an answer. From the start of the year, 435 people died in this facility."

Relatives have gathered at the gates of Trivulzio to leave photos and flowers to remember their loved ones. Others are demanding to see their family members who are still alive inside the home. Italy's lockdown is being relaxed but families still can't visit elderly relations inside.

Outside, there is anger and frustration over what has happened. Angela's mother was a resident and died after contracting the virus, leaving her racked with pain and guilt.

"I can't see her anymore," she said. Even when I go to the grave. She can't hear me. I speak to my mum but she can't hear me. I know that I took her to die. I feel guilty. When she passed away I didn't have the chance to hug her. I am going to take my suffering to the grave. I have no other purpose in life."

Others entered the home for physiotherapy and rehabilitative treatment. Marica Degli Eposti's father, Alfonso, was one of them.

She said: "I am angry. I lost my dad. How should I feel? He was supposed to be having physiotherapy for a femur fracture and then now he is dead."

Alfonso didn't receive a test for the virus until he was in an ambulance on the way to hospital after complaining of breathing difficulties.

Mariagrazia Monti's father-in-law, Rosario, was also a physiotherapy patient who became infected and died. 

"In my opinion, the virus didn't just spread from infected people entering the facility," she said. "It spread because healthy people were not divided from the sick."

Trivulzio officials and the local health authority chose not to make a comment on the ongoing investigation when approached by CGTN Europe.

Lombardy, the region at the center of Italy's COVID-19 crisis, has had the highest number of deaths from the virus.

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