Building collapse in Messina: three people under investigation. Third body recovered
Charges have been brought in relation to multiple counts of manslaughter, failure to implement health and safety measures at work, and causing a disaster through negligence
Three people are under investigation in connection with the collapse of the block of flats in the Pistunina district of Messina. The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Messina has served three notices of investigation, summoning the individuals to appear on suspicion of multiple counts of manslaughter, failure to implement safety measures against accidents at work, and causing a disaster through negligence. So far, three bodies have been recovered from the rubble of the building. The third body is currently being identified by family members. Three other people are still missing.
The investigation, coordinated by the Messina Public Prosecutor’s Office, is being carried out by the Carabinieri of the provincial command, officers from the Workplace Prevention and Safety Service (SPRESAL) of the Messina Local Health Authority (ASP), and the Messina Fire Brigade. Those under investigation are reportedly the managers of the companies carrying out the work on the ground floor of the collapsed building, along with a technician.
Search for missing persons hampered by a fire beneath the rubble
The search for those missing following the collapse of the block of flats in Messina continues unabated. The fire brigade has not stopped working since the discovery of the first two missing people, 71-year-old businessman Carmelo Leone and his sister Rosa Leone. However, the search is being hampered by smoke from a fire smouldering beneath the rubble.
Carmelo’s other sister, Sara, is also missing; Rosa’s husband, Santino Magazzù, and a domestic worker who was with them, the Sri Lankan Lhairu Warnakulasuriya. Also missing is a shop assistant from the Chinese bazaar on the first floor of the building, 21-year-old Alessandra Frazzica from Messina.
“I looked death in the face; I don’t know how I’m still alive,” says one of the three injured men, Davide Lambiate, 26, on his third day’s trial period as a shop assistant at the Chinese bazaar where Alessandra worked. The other two injured men are workers from the company that was refurbishing the ground-floor premises of a supermarket.
