Bolzano courthouse partially collapses during renovation, three workers escape with minor injuries

Collapse and initial response

At around 6 a.m. on Thursday, the central section of the Bolzano courthouse, a building dating back to the fascist era, suddenly gave way. The collapse affected at least a quarter of the structure, where renovation and expansion works were underway. Load-bearing pillars in the construction zone failed, causing courtrooms and offices to crumble from the top floor to the ground floor. Masonry and structural elements plunged into the internal atrium and as far as the main entrance, spilling onto the external staircase. Fire chief Christian Auer said his first thought was of a bomb or an attack, but after initial checks it became clear the collapse was structural. Firefighters used a turntable ladder to survey the scene and cordoned off a wide area.

Those inside

Three cleaning workers were inside the Palace of Justice at the time. One was struck by falling debris and suffered minor scratches to the arm; the other two were unharmed. Auer described the tense moments: initially, one worker was unaccounted for, but they were reached by phone and guided out through a safe part of the building. The cleaning crew had been about to enter the building when the collapse occurred.

When we arrived on site we saw that the entire central part of the Bolzano courthouse, practically all the courtrooms, had collapsed from the top floor to the ground floor. We did not detect any signs of an explosion. The cleaning company was on site, several workers had already left, one was missing. In the end, by phone we managed to find this person who was still inside and we directed them to exit from a safe part of the building.

Official reactions

Court president Francesca Bortolotti called the outcome a miracle, noting that if the collapse had occurred during normal business hours, the toll would have been catastrophic.

At the time of the collapse, only three people were inside the Palace of Justice — three cleaning workers — only one suffered minor scratches but we can speak of a miracle, it could have been a tragedy.

Prosecutor Axel Bisignano confirmed that the entire central part of the court is completely unusable. He said it was too early to determine the cause, but the collapse is likely connected to the ongoing renovation and expansion works. The priority now is to restore judicial services and redistribute the workforce.

The entire central part of the Court is completely unusable, it is still too early to say what the causes are, now we will try to restore service as soon as possible and understand how to redistribute the workforce.

Next steps

Technical inspections by firefighters and engineers will continue in the coming hours. Authorities are working to identify temporary solutions to ensure the continuity of the court's activities. The building, a fascist-era structure, had been undergoing both renovation and expansion at the time of the collapse.