A worker trapped beneath the rubble after a section of a medieval tower collapsed in the heart of Rome has died, according to hospital officials.
The victim, 66-year-old Octav Stroici, was pulled free at 11:00 p.m. local time (22:00 GMT), nearly twelve hours after the initial incident at the Torre dei Conti. The tower is situated on the edge of the famous Roman Forum, close to the Colosseum.
Officials confirmed that his heart stopped in the ambulance, and doctors at the hospital he was rushed to were unable to save him. The Romanian foreign ministry stated that Stroici was a Romanian national, as was another worker among three others who were pulled from the rubble.
Perilous rescue operation
The rescue of Stroici was initially described as an exceptional feat by firefighters who worked late into the night amidst extremely dangerous conditions. Rescue teams employed drones and rubble clearers in their attempts to reach him, all while facing the persistent risk that the fragile structure could collapse further.
Throughout the arduous rescue, he had been conscious and talking to the emergency workers, with his wife present at the scene.
The partial collapse of the structure occurred at about 11:20 a.m. on Monday. Efforts to free Stroici were severely complicated when a second section of the 29m (90ft) high tower began crumbling again approximately 90 minutes later.
This secondary collapse saw bricks raining down, creating a huge cloud of dust. Rome prefect Lamberto Giannini had described the situation as “very complex.” He explained that after the initial collapse, firefighters had “put up some protection” around the trapped man, so that when the second collapse happened, “they obviously shielded him.”
Giannini added that the operation was lengthy due to the need to “mitigate… the enormous risks faced by the people trying to carry out the rescue.”
Romania, Italy’s officials express condolences
The Romanian foreign ministry sent its condolences to Stroici’s family, noting that “together with them, we held on to hope until the very last moment”. Stroici had been carrying out conservation work on the medieval tower, which is located just off Rome’s busy Via dei Fori Imperiali and had been empty and abandoned for many years.
One firefighter was reportedly taken to hospital with an eye issue, but the rest were unharmed and eventually resumed their search. A police chief sought to reassure the public, stating there was no imminent danger that the tower would disintegrate.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had written on X before the rescue was complete, “My thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to the person currently fighting for his life beneath the rubble, and to his family, for whom I sincerely hope that this tragedy finds a positive outcome.”
On Tuesday, former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also expressed his condolences, calling for “justice.”
“Octav Stroici didn’t make it; he died at 66 on the Torre dei Conti construction site,” he wrote on X. “He gave it his all, resisting for 11 hours under the rubble. […] We share the pain of those who loved him and his injured colleagues. We all know that condolences are not enough. Justice will be needed. We will need to do more to ensure that these things never happen again.”
Another worker, 67-year-old Ottaviano, was inside at the time of the collapse but escaped from a balcony uninjured. The Rome Prosecutor’s Office has now opened an investigation into the incident.
The 13th Century tower, built by Pope Innocent III as a residence for his brother, is separated from the main visitors’ area of the Roman Forum by a road, and the surrounding streets have been taped off by police as a precaution. Rome’s mayor and Italy’s culture minister both visited the scene.
