Worker dies after being trapped under collapsed medieval tower in Rome

Octay Stroici was freed from the Torre dei Conti but ‘suffered a cardiac arrest’ in the ambulance

A man who was rescued after spending 11 hours underneath the rubble of a partially collapsed medieval tower in Rome has died in hospital, local authorities have said.

Octay Stroici, a 66-year-old Romanian worker, was taken to Umberto I hospital shortly after being pulled from the debris, Italian news agency ANSA reports, citing health sources.

“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,” Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni said in a statement after midnight. “We are close to his family and colleagues at this time of unspeakable suffering.”

As many as 140 firefighters worked for nearly half a day to rescue Stroici as his wife followed the effort.

Lamberto Giannini, city police chief, said that he had been taken to hospital in a “serious condition”. He reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest in the ambulance.

“The rescue operation took a long time because every time a part of the worker’s body was freed, further collapses occurred, burying him again under the rubble,” Giannini told state television station Rai.

Parts of the 29-metre Torre dei Conti, near the Colosseum, crashed to the ground on Monday morning. A second incident happened while firefighters were working on the structure. None of the firefighters were injured.

The moment the tower partially collapsed a second time during renovation works (AP)

The first collapse occurred after 10.30am. Eleven workers were on the site at the time, local media reported. Another then occurred as rescuers were pulling labourers from the rubble, around 90 minutes later.

A second worker, 64, was pulled out almost immediately and hospitalised with serious but not life-threatening head injuries, while two more workers suffered minor injuries and declined hospital treatment.

“It all happened suddenly,” one of the workers on site, who was not named, told ANSA. “Then I only saw the cloud of dust and the rescuers.”

Gaetano La Manna, another worker, told Il Messaggero: “I heard a bang and everything came crashing down, everything collapsed.”

Debris fell from above and cut his face and the back of his head.

Adriano De Acutis, commander of the Rome Fire Brigade, said Stroici was “was conscious when he emerged”.

He was pulled from the rubble at around 10.30pm.

The prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation for negligent disaster and negligent injury.

Emergency services at the scene following the collapse (Reuters)

The tower, which was due to be converted into a museum and conference space, is located halfway along the Via dei Fori Imperiali, the broad avenue that leads from central Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum.

The building was still standing, but showing significant internal damage.

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.

The building was erected by Pope Innocent III for his family in the early 13th century, and was originally twice as high, but was scaled down after damage from earthquakes in the 14th and 17th centuries.