Three workers dead in Italy within hours: electrician electrocuted at village festival lights
Three workers died in separate incidents across Italy within hours: an electrician electrocuted while installing festival lights in Calabria, a 61-year-old crushed by a pallet in Tuscany, and a worker killed by a forklift in Emilia Romagna.
Electrician electrocuted at Calanna festival
Antonino Fabio Calabrò, a 40-year-old electrician from Rosalì, a fraction north of Reggio Calabria, died on the evening of Thursday, 6 August while connecting lights to the electrical grid for the Madonna dell'Annunziata festival in Calanna, a municipality in the province of Reggio Calabria. According to an initial reconstruction, Calabrò was on a ladder carrying out the connection of lights to the network when he was struck by an electric shock. He was working for a private company alongside colleagues. The 118 emergency medical service attempted resuscitation but could only confirm his death at the scene.
The other lights at the festival site were already connected to a temporary supply and functioning normally, according to what emerged from the initial investigation. The carabinieri of the Calanna station seized the company van and carried out site inspections. The Reggio Calabria prosecutor's office, led by Giuseppe Borrelli, ordered an autopsy. Pending the results, investigators have not ruled out summoning whoever commissioned Calabrò to carry out the work and whoever authorised it.
Worker crushed at Campi Bisenzio packaging plant
Around midnight on 7 August, a 61-year-old man originally from Sri Lanka died at Capp Plast, a company on via Nenni in Capalle, a locality in the municipality of Campi Bisenzio, Florence, that produces plastic containers, pallets and packaging. According to an initial reconstruction, the worker was operating a forklift in the company yard and had stepped off the vehicle for reasons still being clarified when an adjacent pallet loaded with sacks of material tipped over and crushed him. Emergency responders included 118 medics, carabinieri, firefighters, and workplace accident prevention staff from ASL Toscana centro.
Third death in the Modenese area
A third worker died in the Modenese area of Emilia Romagna, crushed by a forklift, according to Rai News. No further details about the victim or the specific circumstances of that incident were reported in the available sources. ANSA described the three deaths as occurring within a span of a few hours.
- Electrician Antonino Fabio Calabrò, 40, electrocuted while installing festival lights in Calanna, Reggio Calabria
- 61-year-old worker of Sri Lankan origin crushed by pallet at Capp Plast plant in Campi Bisenzio, Florence
- Worker crushed by forklift in the Modenese area, Emilia Romagna
Community response and cancelled events
The mayor of Calanna, Domenico Romeo, cancelled all events scheduled until the Ferragosto holiday on 15 August, describing the decision as a sign of respect for Calabrò and his family.
We are waiting to understand in detail what happened. We are close to Fabio's family. The entire Calannese community knew this young man, even though he was a resident of the municipality of Reggio Calabria, in Rosalì.
Social media users remembered Calabrò as a simple, smiling man and a hard worker. One person wrote that he had a way of making himself loved by anyone who crossed his path, while another said the news left them without words and recalled his kindness, availability, and passion for his work.
Workplace safety toll
The deaths add to a provisional toll of 342 workplace fatalities in the first half of 2026, according to Inail data cited by Il Fatto Quotidiano. The incidents have renewed attention on workplace safety and prevention in Italy, with the three tragedies spanning Calabria, Tuscany and Emilia Romagna.
