Industry

Fatal accident at the former Ilva site, ten notices of indictment for manslaughter

The notification by the Taranto Public Prosecutor's Office: six suspects from Acciaierie d'Italia and four from the contractor Gea Power. Friday's forensic examination of Loris Costantino's body

by Domenico Palmiotti

3 March 2026

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Ten notices of investigation have been served by the Taranto Public Prosecutor's Office for the death of worker Loris Costantino on the morning of 2 March at the former Ilva plant in Taranto. Four representatives of the industrial cleaning company Gea Power and six of Acciaierie d'Italia in extraordinary administration are under investigation.

Gea Power is the contracting company, active in the field of industrial cleaning, which had been entrusted with the work to be carried out on the agglomeration's Line E, a plant that had been out of operation for some time. Acciaierie d'Italia is the contractor for the work.The charge against them is manslaughter.

Responding for Acciaierie were the general manager Maurizio Saitta, the director of the Taranto plant, Benedetto Valli, the agglomeration area manager, the agglomeration department head and two technicians. In addition to Saitta and Valli, the measure reached Giovanni Cellammare, Cosimo Pace, Salvatore Sperto, Fabio Franciosa, Gabriele Dell'Anna, Fabio Pagliari, Gino Pierri and Enrico Pozzessere.

The notices were served in anticipation of the forensic medical examination of Loris Costantino's body on Friday morning. The public prosecutor's office entrusted the task to Davide Ferorelli of the University of Bari.
Costantino, who was married with two children, died after a flight into the void of about 10 metres due to the sudden collapse of the floor on which he was standing. Saitta and Valli are also under investigation for manslaughter for the accident on 12 January at converter 3 of the steel plant. 2, where 47-year-old Claudio Salamida lost his life.

The Prosecutor's Investigation

Now it will be the investigation of the Taranto Public Prosecutor's Office that will clarify responsibility for the fatal accident. In particular, the investigation will have to ascertain whether Costantino and his work colleague were supposed to be on line E of the agglomeration and whether the contractor had complied with what Acciaierie d'Italia had ordered them to do in the coordination report before their maintenance work. In addition, it will have to be ascertained by the investigators whether Acciaierie d'Italia itself was also responsible for monitoring the contractor's compliance with its obligations.

Concerning the role of Gea Power's company, the coordination report that is drawn up whenever there is work to be given to third parties, states that "the Gea Power supervisor, prior to the activity, must ascertain the good condition of the structures involved in the work and the transit of personnel (no corrosion, deformation, alteration of the initial state).

The same figure must also "verify that the walkways are easy to walk on and clean, including the stairs to reach the work area" and also "delimit the area underneath with rigid barriers and safety signs or with 'I see' tape, in which case a person in charge must be present".
Acciaierie also asked Gea Power to "verify the endowment and use of PPE-DPCs and equipment with the checks provided for the use of specially trained personnel", to "verify the rescue and evacuation systems and methods in the event of accidents", and to also verify "the easy practicability and cleanliness of the escape routes, including the stairways. The company,' AdI prescribed to Gea Power, 'is obliged to assess the activities and provide the necessary safety measures for carrying them out'.

Furthermore, "manual cleaning activities under moving belts or organs must be carried out with the belt/machine stopped as planned, while manual cleaning along the routes must be carried out avoiding the contact of personnel/vehicles with the moving belt/organs by installing suitable removable defences". Finally, Acciaierie asked Gea Power, "since this is an activity to be carried out inside the towers at various heights, the company must always ensure that the access and escape routes are always usable".

These, then, are the prescriptions made by the client Acciaierie Acciaierie to the contractor Gea Power for the work at the agglomeration - it is the plant that prepares the blast furnaces charge - and the Public Prosecutor's Office, in the investigation that has just begun, must clarify whether and how Gea Power complied with these safety prescriptions and whether the former Ilva itself should have exercised a supervisory and control role over the contractor.

Urso meets Jindal in India

"I confirm that during my recent trip to New Delhi, on the sidelines of the Artificial Intelligence Summit, I met with the company at their request. I gave them the information they were asking for on the European tender process." So on Jindal and on the subject of the sale of the former Ilva, the Minister of Enterprise, Adolfo Urso.

Jindal is the Indian steel group that came forward in the previous tender, the one launched in July 2024. Jindal did not take part in the next tender, launched last August, having announced in the meantime that it had turned its interests towards the German ThyssenKrupp, which was put up for sale, an operation that it has not yet finalised. In the meantime, the commissioners of Acciaierie and Ilva are negotiating with the American fund Flacks, whose offer was considered the best in the second tender for the acquisition of the entire former Ilva group. Jindal could possibly re-enter the game if the negotiations with Flacks fail.

Brand connect

I prossimi eventi

Tutti gli eventi

Notizie e approfondimenti sugli avvenimenti politici, economici e finanziari.

Economy