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Accident at construction site in Italy: rescue teams search for survivors under the rubble of the supermarket. © Vigili del Fuoco
Accident in Florence (Italy). A huge concrete beam collapsed at a supermarket construction site. At least three people died and searches among the rubble continue.
Update February 17, 10:58 am: Sad certainty. Rescue teams found the body of the last missing worker. “We can now say that there are five dead, certainly a dramatic number. “Some time ago I received news that measures were being taken to recover the body,” Eugenio Giani, president of the province of Tuscany, told Lady Radio. There is great sadness and anger over the construction site collapse in Italy.
Update February 17th, 7:54 am: In the early hours of Saturday, firefighters found a fourth dead man under the rubble of the supermarket construction site. At 7am, according to La Nazione, they found the body. This brings the number of victims to four and one man is still missing.
Italy in shock: several dead in supermarket construction site collapse
First report from February 17, 7:40 am: Florence – A field of rubble in the middle of Florence (Italy) on Via Martini. Italian firefighters tirelessly dig through the rubble. At a supermarket construction site, a multi-ton concrete beam broke and collapsed two floors. The accident occurred on Friday night (February 16).
At least three dead in construction accident in Florence
At night, the fire department rescued three people alive from the rubble. Three other people died in the accident, two others are still missing (as of February 17, 7:15 am). The fire department (Vigili del Fuoco) announced this via X. Florence's civil protection officer provides the same information on Facebook. He writes: “Three construction workers were killed while working in the heart of Florence.”
Initially it was difficult to estimate how many people were buried. 30 subcontractors worked on the construction site of the new branch of the Esselunga network. A call later in the day provided clarification.
Reason for collapse at supermarket construction site unclear: Public Prosecutor's Office investigates manslaughter
The reason for the massive collapse is still unclear. The accident probably occurred when construction workers wanted to use prefabricated concrete parts. Florence's public prosecutor, Filippo Spiezia, suspects that a tooth in the column supporting the reinforced concrete beam may have failed. The Public Prosecutor's Office opened a case for manslaughter.
Florence's local newspaper La Nazione writes about the pain and anger in one of the country's most livable cities. And more: “Italy in a state of shock”. The accident apparently happened unexpectedly and at the speed of light. One of the injured told the newspaper: “Everything collapsed.” There will be mourning in the city on Saturday, and all Esselunga supermarkets remained closed on Friday out of solidarity.
The incident is reminiscent of the accident at the construction site in Hamburg in October last year. At that time, five workers died in Hafencity. (moe)