Overview
- Two deaths were reported on Tuesday after a 57-year-old worker was crushed by a press at Cartonificio Biondi in Fabriano and a 46-year-old worker was killed when a raft carrying cranes capsized in Malcesine on Lake Garda.
- Coverage on Wednesday added two more fatalities: Bashkim Rushani, 61, was crushed by a sliding gate while working on pillars in Casarano and a 25-year-old Cameroonian worker died after falling from a ladder in San Leucio del Sannio.
- Carabinieri, labour inspectors from Spisal, Vigili del Fuoco, Guardia Costiera and emergency medical teams responded at the scenes and have opened inquiries into machine function, safety devices and the dynamics of each incident; investigators have not yet confirmed technical causes.
- Official INAIL figures show 498 fatal workplace injury reports in the first eight months of 2026 and local INAIL data record 3,589 injury claims in Salento through September, details unions cite as evidence of an ‘everyday emergency’ in workplace safety.
- Unions and local leaders are calling for stronger prevention, tighter inspections and better training, and the string of deaths could trigger expanded regulatory checks and criminal probes that would affect companies, workers and bereaved families.