Explosion in Italy: what we know about the collapse of several buildings in Sicily – LaDepeche.fr

A four-story building collapsed on Saturday, December 11. The terrible accident was caused by an explosion in the town of Ravanusa in Sicily, according to a report by local authorities on Sunday.

Seven dead, according to the latest official report

Four new bodies were found by rescuers in the rubble of collapsed buildings or affected by an explosion, bringing the official death toll to seven, civil protection announced on Monday.

“The search continues unabated” to find two other people missing after the explosion which destroyed four residential buildings on Saturday evening in the town of Ravanusa, in the south of the Italian island, added the regional protection unit. Sicilian Civilian on Facebook.

The four bodies were found at dawn. “A new day of research begins painfully,” according to a comment on a photograph showing firefighters standing in the ruins of buildings, posted on their regional service’s Twitter account. Two women were found alive in the rubble early Sunday by sniffer dogs but rescuers have seen no signs of life since then.

Four buildings on the ground

The explosion brought down four buildings, including one of four floors, in a residential area in the center of Ravanusa, a city of some 11,000 inhabitants, according to the civil protection unit. Television images show a gigantic pile of rubble with charred and damaged buildings in the surrounding area.

“I heard a huge crash, as if a bomb had exploded or a plane had crashed into the house,” he said. “Then the windows exploded. We immediately went down to the street, there was fire everywhere, debris all around,” continued the man who fled with his wife, their three children and his in-laws. . “It is a miracle that we are alive”.

The trail of a gas leak investigated

An investigation has been opened to determine the causes of the explosion, which occurred on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. GMT. Authorities believe it could be linked to a gas leak. The natural gas distribution company Italgas said in a statement that it had not received any reports of gas leaks during the week preceding the disaster.

No work was underway on the affected section and the city’s distribution network underwent full inspections in 2021 and 2020, according to the company. “Neighbors told me there was a smell of gas,” resident Calogero Bonanno told Italian media.