A worker who was trapped after part of a medieval tower collapsed in the heart of Rome has been rescued, according to local media reports.
The man was pulled free at 23:00 local time (22:00 GMT) – nearly twelve hours after a section of the Torre dei Conti, on the edge of the famous Roman Forum and close to the Colosseum, gave way and trapped him beneath. He has been taken to hospital.
The Romanian foreign ministry said the trapped man was one of its citizens, as was another worker who was among three others pulled from the rubble. One is said to be in a critical condition.
The tower has been closed to the public for many years, and was undergoing conservation work when a section collapsed.
Talking of the rescued worker, Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri said: “We hope that he will pull through.”
Rome prefect Lamberto Giannini told reporters the worker was pulled from the rubble after “a long rescue mission”.
Earlier he had described it as a “very complex situation”. Giannini said that after the initial collapse firefighters had “put up some protection” around the trapped man, so when the second collapse happened, “they obviously shielded him”.
He added that the rescue would be a long operation due to having to “mitigate…the enormous risks faced by the people trying to carry out the rescue”.
The Rome Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into the incident.
Efforts to rescue the worker – reported to be in his 60s – were interrupted when a second section of the 29m (90ft) high tower began crumbling again, with bricks raining down, creating a huge cloud of dust.
One firefighter was taken to hospital with an eye problem, according to local media, but the rest were unharmed, eventually resuming their search for the man.
A police chief said there was no imminent danger that the tower will disintegrate.
“My thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to the person currently fighting for his life beneath the rubble, and to his family, for whom I sincerely hope that this tragedy finds a positive outcome,” wrote Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on X before the rescue was complete.
Another worker, 67-year-old Ottaviano, who was inside at the time of the collapse but escaped from a balcony uninjured, told the AFP news agency: “It was not safe. I just want to go home.”
Rome’s mayor and the country’s culture minister visited the scene. A crane and drone are also being used to assist with the rescue operation.
The 13th Century tower is part of the Roman Forum, a major tourist attraction right in the heart of the city, but it is separated from the main visitors’ area by a road. The streets all around have been taped off by police as a precaution.
The medieval tower was built by Pope Innocent III as a residence for his brother.
