Final death toll of Italy hydroelectric plant blast rises to 7

Reuters

Italian rescuers have found the bodies of the last two missing workers from an explosion at a hydroelectric plant near Bologna three days ago, a spokesperson for the fire brigade said on Friday, bringing the final death toll to seven.

On Tuesday, a fire that broke out on a transformer and the subsequent blast rocked the plant on the shores of the artificial Lake Suviana, owned by Enel Green Power, a unit of utility group Enel.

The explosion has heightened concerns by trade unions about workplace safety in Italy, where over 1,000 people lost their lives while working last year, according to a report by the country's national workers' compensation authority INAIL.

Divers recovered the bodies from the ruins of a turbine hall some nine levels - 40 metres or so - below the lake.

Rescue efforts were interrupted in the late morning of Friday after the last corpses were found, the spokesperson added.

The cause of the accident has not been established and Italian prosecutors have launched an investigation, as is mandatory in such cases.

More from International news

News

  • H.H. Sheikh Mohammed to honour Arab Hope Makers

    His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and the Ruler of Dubai will meet with a group of young humanitarians at a ceremony on February 23, as part of the Arab Hope Makers initiative.

  • UAE Floating Hospital admits 30 Palestinians since ceasefire

    The UAE Floating Hospital in Al-Arish has admitted around 30 patients from Gaza since the start of the ceasefire and the resumption of medical evacuations through the Rafah crossing, as part of the Operation Chivalrous Knight 3.

  • UAE condemns school shooting in Sweden

    The UAE on Friday strongly condemned a shooting at an adult education centre in Sweden that killed 11 people, expressing solidarity with the victims' families.