Five workers died in the workplace accident that occurred in Casteldaccia , in the Palermo area. A sixth was transported to the Policlinico hospital in Palermo after being intubated. A seventh worker was also involved.
According to an initial reconstruction, the seven workers were carrying out some sewerage work on behalf of Amap, the company that manages the water and sewerage pipes in Palermo, when they were trapped in the tunnels and then became intoxicated by the hydrogen sulphide fumes.
Six workers, of the seven involved, are employees of the Quadrifoglio group srl company in Partinico which worked on behalf of the municipal company. The seventh is an interim from Amap.
The victims are Epifanio Alsazia, 71 years old, who should be the co-owner of the company; Giuseppe Miraglia, 47, Roberto Raneri, 51 years old, Ignazio Giordano, 57 years old, and Giuseppe La Barbera.
When the alarm was raised, several 118 ambulances and fire brigade teams arrived on the scene. The workers were extracted immediately and one of them, in desperate conditions, was transported by air ambulance to hospital.
The police are also on site.
“LIKE A CIVIL WAR” – «Shock, consternation and pain combined with the strong closeness to the families of the victims, for yet another accident at work. The theme of prevention, health and safety for those who work is brought up again, while the victims continue to be counted every day. It's like a civil war in which none of the workers decided to take part. Really enough ." This is how the general secretaries of Filctem, Femca and Uiltec, Marco Falcinelli, Nora Garofalo and Daniela Piras, reacted to the dramatic news of the workers involved in the accident which occurred during maintenance work on the discharge of the purifier of the Municipality of Casteldaccia. «We will evaluate the initiatives to be undertaken – they continue – but let us say straight away that for everything concerning safety at work we need to strengthen investments, increase preventive actions and toughen the penalties for those who do not comply with the regulations».
