Tragedy at the Colosseum. During the night, a 22-year-old rock climbing worker, Andrea Moretti, involved in the installation of a new lighting system for the monument, died after falling from a height of approximately 10 metres. He was working in the Flavian Amphitheatre: he would have been found wearing a harness, not attached to any rope. The body was taken to the Sapienza forensic medicine institute for an autopsy, while the Rome prosecutor's office opened a case for manslaughter, currently against unknown persons, in relation to workplace safety regulations. The Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli has ordered the interruption of all work at the Colosseum until further notice, as well as the closure of the Flavian Amphitheatre. At 7pm torchlight procession for Moretti, on the Fori Imperiali side, organized by the CGIL of Rome and Lazio.
Who was Andrea Moretti
Moretti was originally from the Tottea hamlet of the municipality of Crognaleto, province of Teramo. He was a specialized rock rock worker, a highly sought-after qualification that is difficult to find on construction sites, and worked for the company of one of his relatives (Carmine Moretti), Quintilio Moretti srl, based in Tottea. He had followed in his father's footsteps, a long-time worker forced to leave his job about thirty years ago due to an injury that left him disabled. The mayor of Crognaleto, Orlando Persia, a personal friend of the victim, remembers a "sunny boy, a lover of life, of his land, linked to friendships and horses, his passion".
The hypothesis of human error or illness
The recordings from the cameras inside the Colosseum have ended up being examined by the investigators. When Moretti fell, his colleagues were on the other side of the walls: they did not witness the fall, but heard a very loud thud. Then they alerted the emergency services. It cannot be ruled out that the accident may have been caused by human error or illness.
Meloni: "It is unacceptable to die in the workplace"
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in expressing her condolences to Moretti's family, hopes that "full light will be shed, in the shortest possible time, on what happened". And he adds: "Dying at 22 is unacceptable, even more so if this happens in the workplace."
Gualtieri: "Pain for all of Rome"
The mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri speaks of Moretti's death as "a pain for all of Rome". Addressing a "hug" to his family, his loved ones and his colleagues, he says he is aware "that no words can fill such a heartbreaking loss".
Minister Giuli: “Shocked and stunned”
The Ministry of Culture and the Colosseum Archaeological Park also stand by Andrea Moretti's family. "A tragic event that leaves us dismayed and stunned. The few words we manage to express are dedicated to Andrea, his family, his loved ones: we extend our deep, painful condolences to everyone in the face of the absurd death of a young man engaged in his work", declared Minister Giuli.
CGIL: "It's a shame not to close the entire Colosseum"
"The Archaeological Park of the Colosseum has ordered the closure of the second tier where the worker died. The Colosseum does not stop even in the face of death. A shame. We expect Minister Giuli to clarify what happened and to order the total closure of the Colosseum. Humanity comes before tourists", writes the general secretary of the CGIL of Rome and Lazio, Natale Di Cola, on Facebook.
Landini: "It's unbearable that people continue to die at work"
"To think that a 22-year-old boy should die on a construction site, among other things while working in a public construction site, I believe indicates the gravity and unbearability of the situation we have reached. And once again we are talking about a worker who worked in a contracting company, among other things in a public sector", said the general secretary of the CGIL Maurizio Landini, on the sidelines of the event celebrating the union's 120th anniversary. "It is no coincidence - he adds - that we are collecting signatures to change the laws on the procurement system, because this system of doing business is a system that kills. And every time you pretend to cry over a dead person, but then don't change those stupid laws that allow people to be exploited like this, to the point of taking into account that they can even die, it is a political responsibility that can no longer be kept quiet".
