An explosion occurred around 2.30 pm in a hydroelectric power plant in the Suviana artificial basin, in the Bolognese Apennines .

At the moment, according to what was communicated by the Prefecture, there are 3 dead, 5 seriously injured and 4 missing, all workers who were working in the power plant to get a pump back into operation.

Yet another tragedy at work: a turbine exploded on the eighth floor below zero causing first a fire and then the flooding of the ninth floor, with the collapse of an attic . The explosion and subsequent collapse overwhelmed at least 12 technicians, all from external companies (one was a former Enel employee employed as a consultant for these companies), who were working on implementing adjustments to the power plant.

Three people died instantly on the eighth floor and their bodies were identified. Others were hit by the collapsed ceiling, before a cooling pipe from the turbine flooded the area .

Four people are currently still missing , but the search will continue throughout the night. Five, however, are seriously injured and hospitalized in hospitals in Parma, Cesena, Bologna and Pisa.

Since the explosion, twelve fire brigade teams have intervened, including two divers. Added to these are two teams specialized in searching under the rubble: they will have to operate up to 40 meters underground, out of 70 meters deep in the power station , to recover the missing.

Carabinieri, police and financial police were also on site. For the institutions, the vice president of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Irene Priolo, and the mayors of the area, as well as the metropolitan mayor of Bologna Matteo Lepore: «It risks being one of the most serious workplace tragedies in the recent history of our country» , she said.

The President of the Region Stefano Bonaccini received the condolences of the Head of State, Sergio Mattarella. "Now it's time for help, but then we demand to know the causes, what happened: it really isn't tolerable that someone can die like this at work," said Bonaccini . Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed "all my closeness and that of the government to the families of the victims and the injured involved". In the evening, the deputy minister of Infrastructure Galeazzo Bignami also arrived at the power station.

Many aspects of the dynamics are still to be clarified: it seems that before the explosion a strange noise was heard which pushed some workers to move away. And inside the power plant, according to what was reported by the mayor of Camugnano Marco Masinara , two were slightly injured, so as not to abandon their colleagues.

The work of the rescuers will continue throughout the night and until all the missing have been found, with local institutions having equipped themselves to bring around a hundred sandwiches to the rescuers.

The chief prosecutor, Giuseppe Amato, was also on site. "Now is the time for research, then it will be time to understand what happened" , he limited himself to telling reporters. An investigation will inevitably be opened into the case.

THE COMPANY

Enel Green Power , the Enel Group company that deals with the development and management of energy generation activities from renewable sources, communicates that it « has promptly activated all the necessary safety measures as per internal procedures to guarantee the correct carrying out of the procedures of evacuation to protect its personnel. Enel is in contact and close coordination with the Fire Brigade and competent authorities and will provide further updates shortly."

«The dam basin of the Bargi plant - the company says - has not seen any damage and is safe. At the same time, production was stopped, without causing any impact on the provision of electricity service locally and nationally."

THE SUVIANA LAKE

We are in the hamlet of Bargi, municipality of Camugnano . Here is one of the four hydroelectric power plants of a system of lakes which involves, in addition to that of Suviana, the Brasimone, Santa Maria and Pavana. A strategic power plant for the national grid: from here, local people say, the push to reactivate electricity throughout Italy began after the 2003 blackout .

The place where the tragedy occurred is an artificial basin built in the 1920s for the exploitation of electricity, which later also became a tourist attraction which, given its relative proximity to the metropolitan areas of Bologna and Florence, often attracts those he wants to escape the summer heat for a day.

The Bargi plant is a generation/pumping plant made up of two production groups of 165 MW each for an installed power of 330 MW. It is the largest in terms of installed power in the Emilia-Romagna region and has a significant function in regulating , operating and managing the national electricity grid. The power plant is three-quarters submerged.

(Unioneonline/L)

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