Autopsies will be carried out in the next few hours at the Palermo Polyclinic on the 5 workers who died on Monday while working on the Casteldaccia sewerage system. Epifanio Alsazia, almost 71 years old, was the first to die of suffocation.
After him, Giuseppe Miraglia, 47 years old, Roberto Raneri, 51 years old, Ignazio Giordano, 59 years old, and Giuseppe La Barbera, 28 years old, lost their lives. A sixth worker, Domenico Viola, 62, is intubated in hospital. The Termini Imerese Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into the dramatic accident at work for multiple manslaughter. The setting of medico-legal exams, unrepeatable investigations, could lead to the first warnings: a necessary act to give the people involved in the matter in various capacities the possibility of appointing their own consultants so that they can participate in the autopsies.
Giuseppe Miraglia
According to initial reconstructions, the victims worked for the Quadrifoglio Group which had been subcontracted by Tek for the maintenance work on the sewerage network of Casteldaccia and other municipalities, work outsourced by Amap, the municipal company of the capital, and should not have fallen into the plant but they would have had to proceed with clearing the manholes from the street.
Giuseppe La Barbera
The vacuum truck probe, which they should have lowered from the outside – the manhole had been covered with asphalt in previous road works – would have blocked and the workers would have asked permission from the Amap works director to go underground. The “cap” that prevented the probe from purging would have blown and the first 3 workers, including the team leader and co-owner of Quadrifoglio, Epifanio Alsazia, would have been hit by sewage and lethal gas, would have lost consciousness and would have fallen into the tank below. To help them, three other workers, including the temporary worker Giuseppe La Barbera, who was responsible for checking road signs, reportedly got out.
Two are dead, one, Domenico Viola, is dying in intensive care at the Polyclinic. Doctors, who speak of “multi-organ failure”, are trying to understand which of the vital functions have been compromised. The investigations aim to clarify any security gaps – none of the workers were wearing masks -, with what criteria the staff who were not specialized and would not have followed safety courses were selected and why the Amap technician authorized the victims to go down to the room of the plant. The chain of responsibility in supervising work subcontracted to the company also needs to be clarified.
“We ask for immediate responses from the National Labor Inspectorate, the Minister of Labor and the Sicilian Region,” says FP Cgil Sicilia. “We remind you that to date, in Sicily – we read in the note – only 30 labor inspectors have been sent by Inail, none with the technical professionalism necessary to carry out checks in confined environments such as that of Casteldaccia. Furthermore, the inspectors sent will only remain until the end of the year, while safety and workplace protection have no time limits. It is essential to have a stable presence in Sicily too: it is necessary to send other labor inspectors and technical inspectors as soon as possible, guaranteeing their full operation and overcoming non-existent bureaucratic obstacles”.
The suspect in the investigation
There is a suspect in the investigation into the death of the 5 workers killed by the gas released from the sewage while they were working on the Casteldaccia sewerage system. This is Nicolò Di Salvo, the owner of Quadrifoglio, the company that had the works subcontracted. The charge is multiple manslaughter.
The man would have received a warning notice in the evening, an act required so that he can appoint a trusted medical examiner who will participate in the autopsy of the victims tomorrow. At the moment therefore Nicolò Di Salvo, who must answer for the safety measures with which he had equipped the workers, would be the only person under investigation.
The entrepreneur’s partner, Epifanio Alsazia, lost his life in the accident. The investigation is coordinated by prosecutor Elvira Cuti. The autopsy, in which the consultants of the victims’ families will also be able to participate, will be performed at the forensic medicine institute of the Palermo Polyclinic by Dr. Stefania Zerbo.
