A Romanian worker has died in Rome after being trapped for hours under a partially collapsed medieval tower near the Colosseum.
The man was rescued late on Monday, local time, by emergency services and taken to hospital in a serious condition, Rome police chief Lamberto Giannini had previously said.
“I express deep sorrow and condolences, on behalf of myself and the government, for the tragic loss of Octay Stroici, the worker who was killed in the collapse of the Torre dei Conti in Rome,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement after midnight.
“We are close to his family and colleagues at this time of unspeakable suffering.”
An Italian police exclusion zone remains in place around the 13th-century Torre dei Conti tower in Rome after two internal collapses. (AP: Andrew Medichini)
A second worker, also Romanian, was pulled out almost immediately after the collapse and hospitalised with serious but non-life-threatening head injuries.
Earlier, Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Țoiu Oana said her country was “in constant contact with the consulate and embassy” in Italy.
“We are doing everything we can to support the Romanian workers,” she said in a statement posted to X.
Ms Oana also said authorities believed the two Romanian workers were aged 48 and 66.
The medieval building experienced two collapses over a 90-minute period, including one that occurred while rescues were underway. (AP: Domenico Stinellis)
Images broadcast on local television during the rescue of the second Romanian man had shown a trio of rescuers loading him onto a telescopic aerial ladder, then descending and wheeling him on a stretcher into an ambulance.
His condition was not immediately clear, but the chief commander of Rome’s firefighters, Adriano De Acutis, said on state television channel RAI that he was conscious during the rescue.
“Resuscitation attempts were made for about an hour to save Octay Stroici,” Italian news agency ANSA said, citing the Umberto I hospital.
“Despite this, spontaneous cardiac activity could not be restored … [and his] death was pronounced at 12:20am,” the outlet said.
Parts of the 29-metre Torre dei Conti crashed to the ground on at least two occasions over a 90-minute period, videos posted on social media and Reuters video showed.
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Clouds of dust came billowing out of the windows, along with the sound of collapsing masonry.
The second incident took place while firefighters were working on the structure with aerial ladders.
After the first collapse, firefighters managed to “put up some protection” around the trapped man, so when the second collapse occurred, he was shielded, Mr Giannini said.
Rescuers had faced a complex task as they tried to use a first-floor window to get near the trapped worker, but were forced to retreat in a cloud of debris as the structure continued to give way.
Another approach on two ladders was also aborted, and a drone was sent up instead.
As dusk approached, firefighters lifted on a crane used giant tubes to suck rubble out of the second-floor window. They continued the work late into the night.
Italian rescuers extricated a Romanian worker alive during a complex operation that spanned hours. (AP: Fabrizio Corradetti / LaPresse)
“The operation lasted a long time because every time a part of the body was freed, there was additional rubble that covered it,” Mr Giannini said.
The first collapse struck the central buttress of the structure’s southern side and caused an underlying sloped base to fall. The second damaged part of the stairwell and roof, cultural heritage officials said in a statement.
The Torre dei Conti was undergoing restoration works to convert it into a museum and conference space. (Reuters: Remo Casilli)
Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri had told reporters earlier that the worker was speaking to rescuers and using an oxygen mask.
He added that rescuers were working with extreme caution in “a very delicate extraction operation” to avoid further collapses.
Three workers were rescued unharmed after the initial midday incident, said firefighter spokesperson Luca Cari.
None of the firefighters were injured.
One worker who was inside at the time of the first collapse told AFP he escaped from a balcony.
“It was not safe. I just want to go home,” the man — who gave his name as Ottaviano and his age as 67 — said, with white dust covering his uniform.
Authorities have seized the construction site, according to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
Italian prosecutors arrived at the scene as the rescue operation was underway, and were investigating possible charges for negligent disaster and negligent injuries, Italian media reported.
It is common in Italy for investigations to begin while an event is ongoing and before possible suspects are identified.
Restoration surveys showed 700-year-old tower ‘was safe’
Pope Innocent III had Torre dei Conti as a home for his family in 1238. The tower was damaged in a 1349 earthquake and suffered subsequent collapses in the 17th century.
Medieval tower near Colosseum in Rome collapses
The building, located halfway along the Via dei Fori Imperiali, the broad avenue that leads from central Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum, was due to be converted into a museum and conference space.
It was still standing, but showing significant internal damage.
Before the latest phase of restoration was started in June, structural surveys and load tests were carried out “to verify the stability of the structure, which confirmed the safety conditions necessary” to proceed with work, including asbestos removal, officials said.
It once hosted city hall offices but has not been in use since 2006 and was being worked on as part of a four-year renovation project due to end next year, according to Rome city authorities.
Due to the EU-funded restoration work, the area around the tower was closed off to pedestrians.
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