Lorenzo Cubello, 37, and Fabio Tosi, 34, both born in Bologna. They are two young workers, the victims of the explosion at Toyota in Bologna .

A strike on safety was planned for today: "Here," explains a worker, " there are always problems, especially on line 1. People often get hurt a lot, a lot of them. You can tell from the moment you enter that something is wrong."

The woman also speaks about the tragedy that occurred yesterday: "At the moment I thought it was an earthquake, the bang was too loud . Then we thought it was an exploded battery, the power went out and we all ran outside. They told us there was a smell of gas and to run into the street, then they took us to the canteen. Then, a few at a time, with a firefighter, to the changing rooms. We are on the other side of the plant, but the shock wave had moved us all ."

The explosion, perhaps triggered by a compressor, caused part of a warehouse to collapse. In addition to the two dead, 11 people were injured, one in serious condition . The tragedy occurred yesterday around 5:20 p.m. at Toyota Material Handing, in the Borgo Panigale area . One of the most important companies in the Bologna mechanical district, it produces forklifts and employs around 850 people.

What happened will have to be examined and investigated further: what is certain is that the explosion caused part of the shed to collapse . One worker died immediately, another after being transported to the Maggiore hospital. The number of injured is also heavy: one is hospitalized in serious conditions, ten others were rescued between the Maggiore and other hospitals in the province, but their conditions are not particularly worrying.

The possibility that there are other people under the rubble has been ruled out. After the explosion, which was clearly felt in much of the city, workers and their families gathered in front of the factory gates, worried about the fate of their colleagues.

The issue of workplace safety has been a focus of the company for some time: union delegates had called a two-hour strike for today at the end of the shift to ask for greater attention to this issue . "This - says Gian Pietro Montanari of Fiom-Cgil - is not the worst company in the world, but we need to ascertain whether there was maintenance or not. There had been strikes in the past, the last one for some new tools that workers were asking for testing. In the past there had also been a fire in the paint shop".

(Online Union)

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