The final toll from the explosion at the Aluminum in Bolzano is six injured, four of whom are in serious condition. The Province of Bolzano and the Government Commissioner’s Office communicated this in a joint note.
Last night, around 00.30, the explosion of a machine was reported to the Aluminum Bozen srl company in Bolzano, located in via Toni Ebner n. 24, whose plant employs approximately 130 people for the production of extruded products in hard aluminum alloys.
A patrol from the local Police Headquarters promptly intervened on the spot and, from the first information acquired from a worker who remained unharmed, it appears that the explosion occurred in one of the rooms intended for aluminum melting, where a fire broke out and was put out in a short time. by the fire brigade teams of the permanent and volunteer corps of Bolzano.
The accident at work, the causes of which are being ascertained, involved some workers, who were promptly rescued by health service personnel with an emergency doctor, the White Cross and the Red Cross. The Labor Inspectorate of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano also intervened on the site, the note continues.
Following the serious burns reported, all six injured people involved were initially transported to the San Maurizio hospital in Bolzano. Subsequently, four workers were urgently transferred to specialized clinics: one in Verona, two in Padua and one in Murnau, near Munich.
Currently, the place where the serious accident occurred has been seized for subsequent investigations, following the instructions of the judicial authorities.
The President of the Province, on behalf of the Provincial Council, expresses his shock at the incident and his closeness to the affected workers and their families. The rescue was prompt: 2 emergency doctors, 5 ambulances, as well as firefighters from the Permanent Corps and the Bolzano Volunteers. The workers suffered first and second degree burns. Now we need to work immediately to understand what measures to adopt to avoid the recurrence of similar incidents in the future, concludes the note.
The inspection after the explosion
Strike in Alto Adige on 24 June
Fim, Fiom and Uilm have proclaimed one for Monday 24 June 8 hour strike at Aluminium and of 4 hours for the entire metalworking sector in South Tyrol. The protest will cover the last 4 hours of each shift. From 10am today, however, a protest is planned in front of the plant.
“Safety at work must be placed first among the priorities to be pursued. Companies must guarantee the health and life of workers. It is not acceptable that in our country a tragic streak of serious and fatal accidents continues without that nothing changes.” Thus, in a joint note, the unions add: “It is no longer acceptable to risk your life to work”.
Kompatscher: ‘A very serious accident’
“This is a very serious accident. We are working in close contact with the Prefecture, the investigative bodies and the Civil Protection and Health to better understand what the causes of this accident are. We will obviously provide all the information as soon as there is greater clarity on what happened”. The South Tyrolean governor Arno Kompatscher told ANSA.
The reactions
Deeply affected by the serious accident that occurred last night at the Aluminum plant in Bolzano, the bishop Ivo Muser which expresses closeness to the injured workers and their families and invites the community to a moment of prayer.
“With prayer – writes Bishop Ivo Muser – I am close to the seriously injured steel factory workers and their families, colleagues in the workplace and the company who are experiencing this drama. I invite the community to join in praying for them and for those who, unfortunately every day, are involved in accidents at work”.
Muser continues by recalling that “we want to combine prayer with the commitment of everyone, in their respective roles and with their respective skills, to ensure that safety is always a priority in our working situations. A commitment aimed at guaranteeing mutual attention and a vigilance that can help those who work to maintain their safety.”
“On behalf of the entire political community of Fratelli D’Italia of Trentino Alto Adige, I express my deepest sympathy to the victims of the dramatic accident at work at the Aluminum plant in Bolzano. A dramatic balance which does not leave us indifferent and which reminds us like every Attention to the world of work and its safety must be placed among the priorities”. Instead, the deputy states Alessandro Urzì, regional coordinator of Fratelli D’Italia of Trentino Alto Adige.
“The investigations will identify causes and possible responsibilities, and at this moment it is necessary to testify that the event can only lead to strengthening the necessary safeguards to protect workers in every field. The industrial center in southern Bolzano is a district of excellence at a national level, and must continue to carry out its function of economic driving force and opportunities for the local labor market. This is the further reason why it will be necessary to understand what may have happened and what additional tools to make available who leaves home every day to contribute to the well-being of their family and has the right to return in the evening”, concludes Urzì.
“In the last week, Italy has been plagued by deaths and injuries in the workplace. From the tragedy that occurred in Latina, where Satnam Singh, a laborer of Indian origins abandoned without any help after being mutilated by a machine, died; to eighteen-year-old Pierpaolo Bodini, who died in the Lodi area, crushed by an agricultural vehicle; and again, in Brianza a Moroccan worker died due to crushing injuries suffered in the company where he worked”. As the senator of the Democratic Party Susanna Camusso.
“A long dramatic list – he continues – which we hope to be able to put an end to with the serious news this morning of the eight workers involved in the explosion that occurred in the factory in Bolzano, to whom, while awaiting updates on their health conditions, I would like send our heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery. They are not different episodes at all: they are all tragic events resulting from a system of gangmastering, exploitation, illegal work, attention to profit alone to the detriment of workers’ rights”.
“It’s a budget that gives you goosebumps. Giorgia Meloni where are you? The country needs more inspectors, more controls and the real will to apply the rules. Substantial investments are needed in innovative and more performing security tools. The continuous promises , the tables at the ministries and the press releases on days of mourning are of no use if the Government does not find the courage to translate them into concrete facts that protect the lives and dignity of workers” concludes the senator.
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