One dead, one injured in explosion at Italian munitions decommissioning plant
A Thursday morning explosion at a military munitions decommissioning plant in Casalbordino, Italy, left one worker dead and another injured, marking the third fatal incident at the site since 2020.
The explosion
At around 8 a.m. on Thursday, 9 July, an explosion rocked the Sabino Esplodenti plant in Casalbordino, in the central Italian province of Chieti. The facility specializes in dismantling and deactivating military munitions. One worker was killed and another injured, according to initial reports. Emergency services, including an air ambulance, firefighters, and the Carabinieri, responded to the scene. Authorities are investigating the cause of the blast, which reportedly involved a tank inside the production site.
A history of fatal accidents
Thursday’s explosion is the third deadly incident at the plant in six years. In December 2020, three workers lost their lives in an explosion, and in September 2023, another three were killed. With the latest fatality, the total death toll at the site since 2020 has risen to seven. In 2025, the factory changed hands, moving from the Italian Sabino Esplodenti to Arca Defence Italy SpA, a Milan-based subsidiary of the Turkish defence group Arca Defence. The new owner had recently begun the authorization process for new production activities at the site, which is currently under review by regional authorities.
- Three workers killed in explosion
- Three workers killed in explosion
- Factory acquired by Arca Defence Italy SpA
- One worker killed, one injured in explosion
Safety warnings and regulatory gaps
Environmental and safety advocates have long raised alarms about the plant. Augusto De Sanctis, spokesperson for the Abruzzo-based association Forum H2O, told Fanpage.it that the repeated incidents point to a systemic failure.
De Sanctis noted that the facility is classified under the EU’s Seveso Directive as a site at risk of a major accident, yet he questioned whether emergency plans had been updated after the ownership change.We have reached seven deaths, a sad record. After the first two incidents, a normal country would have imposed the conversion of the company to less dangerous production. Already with the first incident we filed several complaints to ask for clarity, but we were ignored.
We do not know if they have been updated or published because in the meantime there has been the change of ownership and the company appears not to be in production, with only maintenance activities underway and most workers still on furlough.
Broader workplace safety crisis
The Casalbordino blast is part of a wider pattern of workplace fatalities in Italy. Trade unions estimate that an average of three workers die on the job each day. Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government has identified health and safety as a priority, and in November 2025 the cabinet introduced a digital badge system for contractors and subcontractors on construction sites to improve oversight. The same morning, a separate accident in Sesto Fiorentino, near Florence, killed a 48-year-old worker who was struck by falling machinery. The explosion also came one day after a blast at a fireworks factory in Sant’Anatolia di Borgorose, in the province of Rieti, killed two people, relatives of three victims of a 2023 explosion at the same site.
