Rome holds day of mourning for worker killed in tower collapse, five Italians killed in Nepal mountain storms, and more news on Wednesday.
Rome holds day of mourning for worker killed in tower collapse
The City of Rome declared a day of mourning on Wednesday for a 66-year-old construction worker who was killed when part of a medieval tower he was helping to restore in the city’s historic centre caved in.
Firefighters extracted Octav Stroici from the rubble of the 13-century Torre dei Conti on Monday night after an 11-hour rescue operation, but he died shortly after in hospital.
In a statement published to its website, the council said flags would be flown at half-mast on all municipal buildings as a sign of mourning.
Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri expressed his “deepest condolences” for Stroici’s passing and extended “heartfelt thoughts to his family, colleagues, and all those close to him.”
A scheduled flyover by Italy’s Frecce Tricolori aerial display team to mark National Unity Day on Tuesday was cancelled to avoid disrupting efforts to make the Torre dei Conti safe.
Five Italians killed in Nepal mountain storms
Five Italian climbers were among those killed in fierce mountain storms that claimed the lives of nine people in the Himalayas since Friday, officials said on Tuesday.
Alessandro Caputo and Stefano Farronato, who had been out of contact since Friday, were confirmed dead in a statement by Italy’s foreign ministry. They had been attempting to scale the 6,887-metre Panbari mountain.
“Their deaths were confirmed this morning by local authorities,” the ministry said. “The compatriots had been caught in heavy snowfall at Camp 1 (5,000 metres above sea level).”
In a second incident on Monday, an avalanche hit a group of 12 people at the base camp of Yalung Ri peak in central Nepal, killing seven people including three Italians, two Nepalis, a German and a French climber.
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Work-related deaths in Italy up to 777 since start of year
The number of fatal work-related accidents in Italy has risen to 777 since January, the latest data from workplace accident insurers INAIL shows.
The figure represents a small increase of 0.9 percent on the same period in 2024, according to the Ansa news agency’s summary of INAIL’s findings.
Of the total number, 570 incidents occurred in the workplace, while 207 were fatal accidents that took place when people were travelling to or from work.
The agency said it had received 310,726 reports of work-related injuries between January and September, a 0.2 percent decrease on the same period in 2024, while workplace-related illnesses had increased by 9.7 percent to 71,682.
With reporting from AFP.