Casteldaccia massacre, 5 workers dead. The hypothesis of intoxication is being investigated. Strike today

After the death of five workers in Casteldaccia, with a sixth remaining in very serious conditions, questions are being asked about yet another workplace massacre in Italy. The victims died in an environment saturated with gas, a product of sewage fermentation whose presence was predictable and they had no escape, trying to save each other in the tank of the waste water lifting plant in Via Nazionale of Amap, the aqueduct company of the Municipality of Palermo. But one after another they lost their lives due to hydrogen sulphide, and from the absence of protection and masks, as has been ascertained. An investigation, coordinated by the Termini Imerese prosecutor’s office, ordered the seizure of the plant. The provincial secretariats of Fillea, Filca, Feneal have proclaimed an 8-hour strike for today following the death of the workers, three of whom were construction workers. The mobilization joins the general 4-hour mobilization of CGIL, CISL and UIL for all other sectors, with a demonstration at 9am in front of the prefecture.

The anger of the unions

“Either things change or we will continue with the mobilizations to the bitter end, to demand safety on construction sites”, say the unions. “We cannot understand why all the necessary precautions have not been taken for interventions where leaks of harmful gases may occur, dangerous for public safety. With this new tragedy, a situation of emergency and state of war is certified. Here the deaths at work are multiplying day after day. We ask the prefect for the intervention of the institutions and to urge the health table and security that we have been asking for for a long time.” From the checks carried out at the bilateral bodies, the unions add, some of the workers “were under-classified in relation to the tasks they were carrying out on the construction site”. Among the deceased was also a temporary worker, workers “too often considered second-class workers”. According to the provincial commander of the Palermo fire brigade, Girolamo Bentivoglio Fiandra: “This tragedy would not have occurred if all the necessary precautions had been taken and expected”.

The reconstruction

According to what was reconstructed, the value of the concentration of hydrogen sulphide formed from the fermentation of sewage was at least ten times higher than the maximum allowable. As happened in Mineo (Catania) on 11 June 2008, when six workers died at the bottom of the tank of a purifier due to gas inhalation, in Casteldaccia they would have died by lowering themselves one behind the other in an attempt to rescue themselves. The seventh colleague, who remained unharmed, would have raised the alarm. According to what was announced by the commander of the Palermo fire brigade, at 1.48pm the single emergency number was called and the 118 service was then activated and the firefighters intervened immediately. Also in action were the divers who removed the bodies of those who were in the tank and followed by the three who were lying on the slab.

Investigations into worker safety equipment

In addition to not having filter masks, as noted by the Fire Brigade, who recovered the bodies yesterday, the five workers found dead in the attic and in the sewerage tank in Casteldaccia (Palermo) would have been without all the other safety devices. safety requirements required by law when operating in a confined environment. To operate in these spaces it is also necessary to use, before entering, the gas alert, a device that allows you to detect pollutants, the one that was used by the firefighters before intervening in the sewer. This instrument itself detected the presence of hydrogen sulphide in quantities ten times higher than the safety limit: it is a gas produced by bacterial degradation, colorless and extremely toxic as it is irritating and asphyxiating. Investigators are ascertaining whether the workers have been trained, as required by law, to work in confined environments and acquire any certifications.

The victims

Four of the victims are workers at Quadrifoglio in Partinico – where investigators seized documents – including the owner of the company; the other was a temporary worker, a temporary worker on assignment at Amap: Epifanio Alsazia, 71 years old, co-owner of the company; Giuseppe Miraglia, 47 years old, Roberto Raneri, 51 years old, Ignazio Giordano, 57 years old and Giuseppe La Barbera. The conditions of Domenico Viola, 62 years old, colleague of the 5 workers who died in the basin of the lifting system of the Casteldaccia sewerage system, remain very serious. This was confirmed by sources from the Palermo Polyclinic where he is hospitalized. The patient “is intubated and ventilated, in very serious respiratory distress, due to hydrogen sulfide poisoning”. The situation is very serious and if he remained alive it was him because, supposedly, he was the last to enter the tank and the first to be extracted. “We don’t know which organs are compromised – say the same sources – and the prognosis is absolutely reserved for life at 48 hours: within 48 hours we expect an evolution and we’ll see”.

Jobs

Amap explains that the works along State Road 113 were prepared following repeated reports in recent days about anomalies in the sewerage network, in the section between the intersection with Via della Rotonda and the lifting station called “Vini Corvo”. For their execution, Amap commissioned the Quadrifoglio Group company for every verification activity of the sewer section. The works, which involved raising the wells and unblocking them with the aid of a vacuum truck, began on April 29th and continued until. to yesterday.

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