Press
A hydroelectric power station exploded in the Apennines on Tuesday. The search for missing people is currently ongoing. Three workers died in the accident.
Cesena – An explosion occurred at the Bargi hydroelectric power station on the Suviana reservoir in the Bolognese part of the Apennine Mountains in the Emilia-Romagna region this afternoon at around 3 p.m. As a result of the accident, three workers died and four are still missing, reports the Italian daily La Stampa. Four deaths were previously reported – including by the AFP news agency. Other injured people, five of whom were said to be seriously injured, were transported by helicopter to the nearby hospital in Cesena.
“We heard an explosion and then saw a lot of smoke coming from the power plant,” said Simone Cappi, owner of the La Spiaggetta restaurant, which is located on the lake, about 300 meters from the explosion site Il Messaggero. A first responder spoke in the phone call La Republica of an “impressive catastrophe”. “My legs are shaking,” said the man, audibly shaken by the massive destruction.
Responsible emergency services: Hope of rescuing someone alive is dwindling
According to initial information, a turbine in the eighth basement of the power plant exploded. Meanwhile, one floor below, a flood occurred due to a defective cooling hose on the turbine, as a result of which the room was flooded several meters high. In addition to around sixty firefighters, divers are currently on duty at the scene of the accident.
The hope of finding someone alive is dwindling, but it still exists. “It could be that they found refuge somewhere else in the facility after the explosion,” the fire department's regional director, Francesco Notaro, told reporters Il Messaggero.
The company responsible for the hydroelectric power plant is carrying out further investigations
In addition, some local administrators are on site together with the prefect, the public prosecutor on duty and the law enforcement officers. “We see a constant coming and going, they descend with oxygen tanks,” said Maurizio Fabbri, mayor of Castiglione de Pepoli Il Messaggero. The mayor of the municipality of Camugnano, Marco Masinara, speaks of an “inferno” and warns of a possible collapse of a ceiling. “A huge regret: an entire community has been hit, ours and that of Enel, which has a strong bond with all the people who have worked at the power plant for years.”
Enel, the owner of the power plant, is currently investigating According to La Stampa together with the employees of the local branch what the specific causes of the accident were. Engineers are reportedly in contact with the power plant and investigations are also underway with Enel Green Power, whose senior management is on its way to the site.
The Enel Group company, which deals with the development and management of energy production activities from renewable sources, has confirmed that it has “activated all the necessary security measures in accordance with internal procedures to ensure the proper execution of the evacuation procedures to protect personnel . Production at the Bargi plant “has been stopped without impacting the electricity supply at local and national levels,” the company said La Stampa further. (fh)
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