A 5th worker confirmed dead in Italian construction site collapse as workplace safety sparks debate

By GIADA ZAMPANO
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Italian rescuers have confirmed the death of a fifth worker after a concrete beam and layers of slabs collapsed at a supermarket construction site in the city of Florence a day earlier. Tuscany Region’s president Eugenio Giani said Saturday that rescue teams are working on recovering the body. A group of workers were putting together prefabricated concrete structures for a new Esselunga supermarket when the collapse happened, trapping eight men under the rubble. Rescue teams successfully pulled out three of the eight who were taken to local hospitals, where they were reportedly in serious but not life-threatening condition.