Explosion at the Ritom hydroelectric power plant in Piotta: two workers involved

Explosion between 9.30 and 10.00 at the Ritom hydroelectric power plant in Piotta, a hamlet of Quinto, in the Canton of Ticino. This is a 55-year-old Swiss citizen and a colleague whose details are being verified. A fire inside the building was initially reported to the Common Alarm Center (Cecal).

Agents of the cantonal police, the firefighters of Biasca, Alta Leventina and Bellinzona intervened on site, carrying out the fire extinguishing and securing operations in the area, as well as the rescuers of Tre Valli Soccorso and Rega.

An explosion then occurred, for reasons yet to be ascertained, involving the two workers. As the newspaper La Regione writes: "A possible cause could be a problem with a frequency converter for the exchange between the electricity network of the Federal Railways and that of the Ticinese Electricity Company".