An explosion occurred around 2.30 pm in a hydroelectric power plant in the Suviana artificial basin, in the Bolognese Apennines .
At the moment, according to what was communicated by the Prefecture, there are 3 dead, 5 seriously injured and 4 missing, all workers who were working in the power plant to get a pump back into operation.
Yet another tragedy at work: a turbine exploded on the eighth floor below zero causing first a fire and then the flooding of the ninth floor, with the collapse of an attic . The explosion and subsequent collapse overwhelmed at least 12 technicians, all from external companies (one was a former Enel employee employed as a consultant for these companies), who were working on implementing adjustments to the power plant.
Three people died instantly on the eighth floor and their bodies were identified. Others were hit by the collapsed ceiling, before a cooling pipe from the turbine flooded the area .
Four people are currently still missing , but the search will continue throughout the night. Five, however, are seriously injured and hospitalized in hospitals in Parma, Cesena, Bologna and Pisa.
Since the explosion, twelve fire brigade teams have intervened, including two divers. Added to these are two teams specialized in searching under the rubble: they will have to operate up to 40 meters underground, out of 70 meters deep in the power station , to recover the missing.
Carabinieri, police and financial police were also on site. For the institutions, the vice president of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Irene Priolo, and the mayors of the area, as well as the metropolitan mayor of Bologna Matteo Lepore: «It risks being one of the most serious workplace tragedies in the recent history of our country» , she said.
The President of the Region Stefano Bonaccini received the condolences of the Head of State, Sergio Mattarella. . Prime Minister expressed "all my closeness and that of the government to the families of the victims and the injured involved". In the evening, the deputy minister of Infrastructure Galeazzo Bignami also arrived at the power station.
