Three dead, three missing after Messina building collapse; three under investigation for manslaughter

The collapse

On Thursday afternoon, a three-storey building in via Giorgio La Pira, in the Pistunina district on the southern outskirts of Messina, collapsed. Witnesses reported a loud roar followed by white smoke. The building housed residential apartments on the upper floors and a Chinese bazaar and a supermarket on the ground floor, where renovation works were reportedly underway.

Victims and missing

By Saturday, three bodies had been recovered. The first, Carmelo Leone, 71, an entrepreneur and co-owner of the building, was found on Friday. His sister Rosa Leone was extracted early Saturday morning around 4 a.m. and identified by her daughter Clelia. A third body was recovered later Saturday, still awaiting formal identification, but believed to be 20-year-old sales clerk Alessandra Frazzica, who worked at the bazaar. Three people remain missing: Sara Leone, another sister; Santino Magazzù, Rosa's husband; and Lhairu Warnakulasuriya, a Sri Lankan domestic worker.

Rescue efforts

About 70 firefighters are working at the site, facing a smoldering fire beneath the rubble that complicates operations. Fire commander Michele Burgio described the floors as having "collapsed like a sandwich," leaving few voids. Search dogs indicated a spot where Frazzica might be located. In a moment of hope, rescuers pulled two kittens and a dog alive from the debris.

“Per noi tutte le vite sono sacre.”

Clelia Magazzù appealed on social media for people not to call her parents' phones to preserve battery life, as cell signals could help locate them.

Investigation

The Messina Public Prosecutor's Office has placed three people under investigation for multiple manslaughter, removal of workplace safety precautions, and culpable disaster. They have been served with guarantee notices and summoned for questioning early next week.

“Primario e doveroso compito di questa Procura è assicurare l'acquisizione genuina delle fonti di prova, volte a ricostruire la dinamica del crollo e a risalire alle responsabilità individuali.”

Prosecutor D'Amato added that investigators are examining whether there is a link to renovation work in the building, though it is unclear if the work addressed structural issues or merely plaster.

Possible causes

The exact cause remains undetermined. While a structural failure is suspected, firefighters have not ruled out an explosion, as the loud noise could have been either the collapse itself or a blast. The ground-floor supermarket was undergoing renovations, but fire officials said they had no knowledge of the scope of those works. The area has been sealed off as investigations continue.