Alone, in a cabin heated by a stove, with temperatures more than ten degrees below zero. That's how Pietro Zantonini, 55, a security guard who worked in Cortina d'Ampezzo near the ice rink construction site, died on the night between January 7th and 8th .
To carry out this work related to the Olympic Games, he had left Brindisi in September, where he would return at the end of January when his fixed-term contract, which had already been extended, expired.
He left that cabin every two hours to carry out the reconnaissance. But he couldn't complete his shift between Wednesday and Thursday, which was carried out in freezing temperatures. The thermometer read -12 degrees Celsius: during the night, the man, it appears, called his colleagues to report that he was feeling ill . They called 911 shortly before 2:00 AM. When help arrived, they attempted to resuscitate him, but there was nothing more they could do. He had already succumbed to illness.
Zantonini's wife, who arrived from Puglia, filed a complaint with the Carabinieri, and prosecutor Claudio Fabris ordered the seizure of the body and an autopsy. The goal is to "shed full light on the incident and ensure that no workplace death is treated as a private or unavoidable event," explains the family (the couple also have an adult son), assisted by lawyer Francesco Dragone.
According to relatives, there were signs that not everything was running smoothly on those construction sites. Zantonini "had repeatedly expressed concerns and complaints about working conditions, long night shifts, and the lack of adequate protection." And that night, "he was working a night shift, outdoors, in particularly harsh weather conditions ." These elements "bring back to the forefront the issue of safety and working conditions on construction sites and in services related to major events, particularly in view of the 2026 Winter Olympics."
The tragedy shakes the buildup to the Olympics, with 27 days to go. Simico, the Milan-Cortina infrastructure company, expresses its "deepest and most heartfelt condolences," specifying that "this is a construction site that is not under its jurisdiction." Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, "deeply saddened by the death of the security guard," states that he has "requested detailed information on the incident, with particular reference to the contract and his duties," and "takes this opportunity to reiterate that workplace safety is a priority, to be taken before any other aspect, including the expediting of certain projects." Cortina's mayor, Alberto Lorenzi, expressed "human sorrow for the loss." Veneto President Alberto Stefani had a harsh comment at the end of a week that saw the deaths of three workers in his region: "Workplace safety cannot be an option," he emphasized, calling the wave of deaths that began 2026 "unacceptable."
The Belluno CGIL union is also clear, stating that "over the last few years we have seen those construction sites open" 24 hours a day, seven days a week, "and carried out in all weather conditions." Today, "the spotlight is on the private security sector, where work continues, often in critical conditions, with exaggerated shifts."
(Unioneonline)