Spate of workplace accidents continues in Italy.

Five workers died while carrying out sewage works near Palermo on the Italian island of Sicily on Monday, with a sixth transported to hospital in critical condition.

The workers were conducting maintenance work inside a wastewater purification tank in the town of Casteldaccia when they inhaled toxic fumes, leaving five of them dead.

Firefighters said a sixth worker was extracted alive but unconscious and was taken by helicopter to hospital in Palermo. A seventh worker, who raised the alarm, was uninjured.

#Palermo, intervento #vigilidelfuoco dalle 14 a Casteldaccia per un incidente in un impianto di depurazione delle acque reflue: soccorso 1 operaio in stato di incoscienza e affidato ai sanitari, 1 rimasto illeso. Recuperati i corpi privi di vita di altri 5 [#6maggio 16:00] pic.twitter.com/Pq6M27pOsj— Vigili del Fuoco (@vigilidelfuoco) May 6, 2024

The workers were reportedly employed by a private firm which had been sub-contracted by Amap, the public-owned Italian company that manages water and sewage disposal.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni sent her condolences to the families of the workers who died and called for "full light to be shed on this tragedy".

Italy's president Sergio Mattarella, visiting New York, expressed his condolences for the victims of "yet another unacceptable massacre at work", noting that it occurred "just a few days" after Labour Day.

Sconvolge la notizia degli operai coinvolti nel tragico incidente avvenuto a Casteldaccia, nel palermitano. Alle famiglie delle vittime il mio profondo cordoglio, unitamente al sentimento di vicinanza verso il lavoratore che si trova attualmente nel reparto di Rianimazione…

— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) May 6, 2024

The president of the Sicily region, Renato Schifani, also expressed his condolences to the families of the victims "for the terrible and unexpected tragedy".

The incident is the latest in a spate of workplace accidents in Italy, including the seven workers killed last month at a hydro power plant near Bologna and the five construction workers killed in Florence in February.

Photo Vigili del Fuoco