Four missing as recovery hopes fade
Water samples taken to check for hydrocarbons
SUVIANA, ITALY Search and rescue operations resumed after a brief suspension on Wednesday evening at a hydroelectric plant close to the northern Italian city of Bologna, a day after a devastating blast killed at least three workers, injured five and left four missing.
Rescuers lamented increasingly harsh conditions at the site of Tuesday’s massive explosion, which rocked the Enel Green Power plant at about 40 metres below the water level, causing flooding and the collapse of part of the nine-storey underground structure.
“We are working in incredibly difficult conditions,” said Luca Cari, a spokesperson for Italian firefighters, after announcing the searches would resume after 8 p.m. and continue overnight. “Hopes of finding missing people alive are objectively thin.”
Emilia Romagna region’s vicepresident, Irene Priolo, said the plant’s operator Enel Green Power was co-operating with rescuers to help lower the level of waters.
Experts took some samples on Wednesday afternoon to analyze the quality of the water in the lake and around the site of the explosion, to check for possible presence of oils or hydrocarbons that could harm people in the area, she added.
The level struck by the explosion was flooded by about a metre of water during searches on Wednesday afternoon, forcing divers to search amid debris in almost total darkness, firefighters said.
The blast at the Bargi plant happened during maintenance work. A fire broke out when a turbine exploded on the eighth floor below the surface, flooding the floor below, Bologna Prefect Attilio Visconti said.
According to the first reconstructions of the accident by witnesses and survivors, it happened during a testing operation that involved about 15 workers, almost all employees of three external companies hired by Enel Green Power.
An investigation into the accident was launched on Wednesday but the current conditions at the site would require some time for the probe to determine the real cause of the blast.
“It is still very difficult to define the complex dynamics of the facts ... I am here because there are still workers who need to be recovered,” said Labor Minister Marina Elvira Calderone, who visited the plant on Wednesday afternoon.
Enel Green Power said it was cooperating with magistrates and had a psychological support team to help the families of the victims.
Marco Masinara, the mayor of the nearby town of Camugnano, said the structure was “a historic power plant for us,” providing jobs for many families.
“Our world collapsed,” he said Tuesday, adding that three of the injured were in serious condition.
The artificial Suviana Lake was formed by the construction of a dam from 1928-32 and is located in a regional park.