Rome. Tower collapses – dramatic rescue operation begins.

In Rome, a medieval tower collapsed, burying a worker beneath the rubble. Rescuers managed to save the man after hours of work, but his injuries were too severe.

After a medieval tower collapsed in the heart of Rome 's historic center, a worker trapped in the rubble was rescued, but the 66-year-old died in hospital, according to Italian media citing hospital sources. Earlier on Monday evening, Rome's prefect, Lamberto Giannini, had stated that the man was in critical condition and had been transported by ambulance "after a lengthy rescue operation."

The Foreign Ministry in Bucharest had announced that the man trapped under the rubble was a Romanian citizen. According to Rome's Prefect Giannini, the man had apparently benefited from the fact that rescue workers had erected a kind of protective structure around him after the tower collapsed. When further sections of the tower broke away and fell an hour and a half after the accident, he was "clearly protected" by this structure.

The 13th-century Torre dei Conti, located near the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, collapsed on Monday during restoration work. According to rescue workers, in addition to the worker who was initially trapped, three other people were inside the tower at the time of the collapse. They were rescued. One of them suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital, a fire department spokesperson told AFP.

The Torre dei Conti has been undergoing renovations since June with EU funds; among other things, asbestos is to be removed.