Marcinelle remembers the fallen, ceremony begins at the Bois du Cazier

A commemorative ceremony for the August 8, 1956, massacre began at the Bois du Cazier in Marcinelle, commemorating the tragedy that claimed the lives of 262 miners, including 136 Italians. This tragedy marked history as one of the world's worst mining disasters, becoming a symbol of workplace deaths and the precarious safety conditions in which many Italian emigrants were forced to work after World War II.

At 8:10 a.m., in the square in front of the mine entrance, the Maria Mater Orphanorum bell rang out 262 tolls, one for each of the victims. Each toll was accompanied by the solemn reading of the names of the fallen miners, pronounced one by one before an audience gathered in emotional silence. In attendance were Italian miners' associations, numerous families of the victims, and the large Italian community still present in the Charleroi area. Representing the Italian government were Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Giorgio Silli, accompanied by the Italian Ambassador to Belgium, Federica Favi.

The tragedy was caused by a fire caused by the combustion of high-pressure oil, ignited by an electrical spark. Of the 275 workers present in the mine that morning, only thirteen survived. In terms of casualties, it was the third-worst accident in the history of Italian emigration, preceded only by the Monongah and Dawson massacres, both of which occurred in the United States.