A medieval tower under renovation in central Rome came tumbling down on Monday, leaving a builder seriously injured and another trapped under the rubble.
Horrifying footage showed the moment part of the Torre dei Conti tower, which is located near to Rome’s Colosseum, collapsed in front of tourists.
Stunned onlookers could be seen backing away from the building as it became engulfed by clouds of dust, while the sound of collapsing masonry could also be heard.
A national fire department spokesperson told Reuters that emergency services are trying to get a worker out from the rubble alive, but said that ‘the situation is complex because of the risk of further collapses.’
Regional President Francesco Rocca, speaking to Italian news agencies, said the worker who was rushed to hospital was not in a life-threatening condition, while two more workers suffered minor injuries and declined hospital treatment.
The 95ft tower suffered at least two collapses, according to videos posted on social media.
The second incident took place while firefighters were working on the structure with aerial ladders.
Torre dei Conti stands near one of Rome’s tourist hotspots.
A section of Rome’s Torre dei Conti tower collapsed on Monday, leaving one person seriously injured and another trapped under the rubble
Horrifying footage showed the moment part of the tower, which is located near to Rome’s Colosseum, collapsed in front of tourists
It is located halfway along the Via dei Fori Imperiali, the broad avenue that leads from central Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum.
The building is still standing, but appears to have suffered significant internal damage.
It once hosted city hall offices but has not been in use since 2006 and was being worked on as part of a four-year renovation project due to end next year, according to Rome city authorities.
Due to the restoration work, the area around the tower was closed off to pedestrians.
The building was erected by Pope Innocent III for his family in the early 13th century, and was originally twice as high, but was scaled down after damage from earthquakes in the 14th and 17th centuries.
The terrifying tower collapse comes a month after a six-storey building caved in central Madrid, leaving four people dead.
The tragedy struck as the block was being renovated to be turned into a hotel.
Mayor Jose Luis Almeida said: ‘It is with deep sadness that we confirm that Madrid firefighters have recovered the bodies of the people who went missing after the collapse.’
Firefighters with a ladder rescue workers after the medieval tower partially collapsed during renovation work
Dust rises after parts of the Torre dei Conti tower collapsed, as emergency service members work at the scene
The victims were identified as project architect Laura Rodriguez, 30, and construction workers Moussa Dembele, 40, Diallo Mamadún and a man called Jorge.
Following a search-and-rescue operation in which police and firefighters deployed drones and sniffer dogs, two of the victims’ bodies were found hours after the collapse, while the others were found in the early hours the next morning.
The building, which was set to be transformed from an office into a luxury hotel with a ground-floor restaurant, is in the heart of one of Madrid’s top tourist areas.
It is just a five-minute walk from La Puerta del Sol, one of the city’s most well-known squares.
Around 40 people were said to have been inside the building as it collapsed. Three other construction workers were injured.
The collapse of the building’s interior structure left its façade intact.
One construction worker named Mikhail was pumping concrete into the building’s lower floors and was outside when the collapse occurred. He said he saw a large cloud of dust and immediately sprinted away.
‘I was the first to run, I didn’t care about anything else. I’ll save my life first and, if I can, save others later,’ he told reporters on Tuesday.
The building is still standing, but appears to have significant internal damage
Authorities said the incident ’caused the different floors to also give way down to the basement of the building.’
They added: ‘The damage there is very severe, and the possible impact on adjacent buildings is also being analysed.’
According to Madrid’s online registry of buildings under construction, the property was built in 1965.
It underwent two technical inspections in 2012 and 2022 and was classified as ‘unfavourable’ due to ‘the general condition of the façade, exterior, partition walls, roof, roof terraces and plumbing and sewage system’.
The former office building, located in an area of downtown Madrid popular with tourists near the opera house and royal palace, was being converted into a four-star hotel by developer Rehbilita, according to information on its website.
Rehbilita did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The property belongs to Saudi-based fund RSR, a real estate investor specialising in high-end hotels and tourist apartments in Spain and Portugal. RSR bought it for €24.5million (£21.3million) in 2022.
Its renovation, approved by municipal authorities in December 2024, was expected to last two years.