ROME (AP) – A fifth construction worker was confirmed dead on Saturday after a concrete beam and slabs collapsed at a supermarket building site in the city of Florence a day earlier, Italian officials said.
“I’ve just been informed that rescuers have located the body of a fifth worker,” the Tuscany regional president Eugenio Giani, said.
Search teams were working to reach the body under the rubble. Earlier, firefighters’ spokesman Luca Cari told Italian TV channel RaiNews that emergency personnel had recovered the body of a fourth worker.
“The mass of rubble is enormous,” Cari said. “It will take time to secure the site.”
A group of workers were putting together prefabricated concrete structures for a new Esselunga supermarket on Friday when, according to initial reports, a reinforced concrete beam toppled over a layer of slabs, which then collapsed, trapping eight men.
Rescue teams pulled out three workers who were taken to local hospitals, where they were reported to be in serious condition but not suffering life-threatening injuries.
Preliminary assessments indicated the accident happened due to a “structural collapse” of the concrete beam, which may have been caused by a misplacement or defect in its composition, officials said.
Florence prosecutors have ordered an investigation into the collapse, taking into consideration charges of negligence and multiple manslaughter, but no suspects have been named at this stage.
