The Torre dei Conti, a medieval tower near Rome’s famed Colosseum, partially collapsed on Monday, seriously injuring a worker and trapping another inside, Italian officials said.
Emergency workers were trying to recover the worker trapped by the rubble, according to Luca Cari, a spokesman for Rome’s fire department, but the rescue efforts were proving difficult because the structure had become unstable.
The trapped worker had “given signs of life,” Lamberto Giannini, Rome’s prefect, told reporters at the site of the collapse, but his condition was unclear. Mr. Giannini said the rescue attempt would be “a long and complex operation” because of the safety risks for rescuers.
“We hope the outcome will be positive, but it is not simple,” he said.
Two other workers sustained minor injuries in the collapse, according to officials. Workers were on scaffolding around the tower when an initial collapse took place, according to the Italian news agency ANSA, and had to be rescued by a fire department ladder truck.
A second partial collapse occurred as firefighters were conducting a rescue operation.
The group was part of a team conducting restoration work on the tower, which had been used in modern times for municipal offices until 2006. The tower, built in the 13th century, had fallen into a state of “total abandonment” in recent years, and nearly 7 million euros, or roughly $8 million, has been allocated for its restoration, according to a municipal website.
The tower, which stands nearly 100 feet tall near the medieval Roman Forum and the Colosseum, was used by Pope Innocent III as a residence for his family. It has sustained various structural and cosmetic changes over the centuries, mostly because of damage from earthquakes. It was tentatively scheduled to reopen in 2026 after a four-year restoration project.
After the collapse on Monday, police barricades blocked off the streets leading to the tower, which is at the crossroads of a street that leads from the Colosseum to the central Piazza Venezia. Emergency vehicles and several fire trucks surrounded the base of the tower, and by midafternoon, truck had arrived to help remove rubble from the site.
Elisabetta Povoledo is a Times reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years.
Ali Watkins covers international news for The Times and is based in Belfast.
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