Five workers died in Sicily, in a sewage treatment plant. The men allegedly inhaled hydrogen sulfide

Tragedy in Italy. Five workers died on Monday in Sicily, after inhaling toxic gases while carrying out maintenance work in a sewage treatment plant, reports AFP, according to News.ro.

By the Observator editorial team on 07.05.2024, 07:32

“Five workers died, and a sixth was intubated and transported to the hospital,” the mayor of the commune, Giovanni di Giacinto, confirmed to AFP.

Firefighters pulled out six people, but for five of them it was already too late and they were declared dead. A worker was a drunkard, they informed X.

According to Giovanni di Giacinto, the workers would have breathed hydrogen sulphide, a natural gas present in waste treatment facilities, toxic in high concentrations.

A high concentration of this gas can cause respiratory problems, convulsions, coma and death.

Fatal workplace accidents continue in Italy

Fatal workplace accidents regularly make the headlines in the Italian press and are at the center of a debate on risk prevention.

In April, seven workers died in an explosion in the premises of a hydroelectric plant, near Bologna (north). In February, the collapse of a concrete structure on the construction site of a supermarket in Florence resulted in five deaths.