An accident at work involved four workers of «SMV srl», company from Galliera Veneta specialized in car repairs, sandblasting and insulation of vehicles and industrial machinery, and in the preparation and repair of road tanks. They were the fumes emanating from the truck’s tank which, despite being empty, had previously transported bitumen, causing the four workers to lose consciousness. According to the first reconstruction of what could have happened in the Padua company, the accident developed in a chain: one after another the workers would have fallen, trying to rescue their colleagues who had previously lost consciousness.
The worker who called for help
They would be three Romanians: SD, 48 years old, LGP, 59, and IN, 47. Together with them Walter Franco, the 54-year-old owner of the company, who, having noticed his employees in great difficulty, he immediately tried to intervene to help them, but remained intoxicated by the fumes himself, losing consciousness and falling to the bottom of the tank. All unconscious, the four were finally joined by a last worker who, before being hit by the fumes of tar, shouted in an attempt to seek help, managing to make himself heard by the workers of nearby companies, who promptly called for help. His name is Enrico Scapin, the man who managed to see the scene, promptly raised the alarm and called for help, managing to pull the last of the workers out of the tank who collapsed right before his eyes. He himself told Antenna Tre: «I heard the cries of the last man who was about to enter, he had warned me that three colleagues had fallen into the empty tank, all fainting due to the bitumen fumes. We rushed over immediately and I found the last of the workers already unconscious. He had fallen on board the tanker, so luckily I managed to get it out before it fell completely in. We were worried – adds Scapin – because there were still three people inside, so we immediately called Suem 118. When the firefighters arrived, we helped them extract the people, then they made us move away. They were all barely conscious.”
The air ambulance service has been arranged
A very heavy smell of bitumen that could be felt even meters away and which, as Scapin confirms, it would have knocked all the workers unconscious in less than twenty seconds. Of the men involved, three were immediately transported to Padua hospital and one to Ca’ Foncello in Treviso. They would be the first two who fell into the tank who are now in the worst conditions, so much so that the helicopter rescue service has been arranged for them. Workers from nearby companies remained near the accident site for several hours after the incident, trying both to understand what had happened and to give their support to the colleagues involved. «Fortunately we are all close and this is an industrial area where many companies are concentrated – explain some employees of companies close to «SMV srl» -. We see each other every day, something like this had never happened before, we were shocked. Fortunately the tragedy was avoided.” As per practice, technicians from Spisal, the workplace health and safety prevention service of the Euganea Local Health Authority, also rushed to the Galliera Veneta company and have already carried out the initial findings of the case. And further investigations will continue in the coming days, to try to reconstruct the dynamics of the accident and give an explanation to an accident at work that is keeping the entire country in suspense.
The area has been cordoned off
Many residents of the area, hearing the sirens of the numerous emergency vehicles arriving on site (fire fighters, carabinieri and two Suem 118 ambulances, which were soon joined by the two helicopters departing from the hospitals of Padua and Treviso), they immediately realized that something very serious had happened within the company specialized in the construction and repair of road tanks. And to prevent onlookers from obstructing operations the area was cordoned off within a few minutes. The night passed with great apprehension on the part of the colleagues of the workers involved in the workplace accident, who remained in feverish contact awaiting positive updates on their health conditions.
