The tower was under renovation when parts of it collapsed on Monday morning. A 66-year-old renovation worker was trapped under the rubble and it took rescue workers almost twelve hours to dig him out.
Resuscitation attempts were made in an ambulance, but at around 1:00 a.m., public service broadcaster Rai reported that the man had died of cardiac arrest. He was said to have been a Romanian citizen.
Several people were rescued from the rubble early on. One of them reportedly suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
During the effort to reach the 66-year-old, another part of the tower collapsed – in front of the eyes of hundreds of shocked tourists who had gathered after the first collapse. A heavy cloud of dust rose from the scene and enveloped the rescue workers.
The Torre dei Conti is believed to have been built as early as the 9th century, but was expanded and fortified in the 13th century by the family of Pope Innocent III. At the time of the collapse, the almost 30-meter-high building was undergoing renovation work after years of neglect, Italian media reports. The tower is located in the central parts of the Italian capital, near the Colosseum, and is part of the Roman Forum.
Monday's collapse is being investigated as causing damage due to negligence, according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
