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Two hospitalised as wildfire breaks out near Rome

Thick clouds of smoke were reported over the Italian capital on Monday afternoon as a large wildfire took hold on the north-western edge of the city.

Two hospitalised as wildfire breaks out near Rome
A firefighter sprays water as a wildfire rages near Rome. File photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP

Photos and video taken by Rome residents on Wednesday afternoon show thick clouds of smoke, with the fire visible from the western side of the city’s ring road, or GRA (Grande Raccordo Anulare).

Firefighters are working to contain the blaze, which is reportedly spreading in the area between the major roads Via Aurelia and Via di Casalotti.

A mother and her baby were taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation while 35 others were treated at the scene, according to local news reports.

Several homes and a summer camp have so far been evacuated, according to reports.

Explosions were heard as the fire reached warehouses in an industrial area west of the capital, reports Rai News, thought to be caused as the fire reached dozens of gas cylinders kept at a campervan storage facility.

The fire brigade said in a tweet that several teams were at the scene of the explosions.

Firefighters said the blaze was becoming less intense at around 5pm on Monday, but that it was still spreading due to high winds.

A prolonged heatwave and a severe drought have caused extremely dry conditions across much of Italy, including Lazio, the region around Rome.

READ ALSO: Italian wildfires ‘three times worse’ than average as heatwave continues

This story is being updated…

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ROME

Rome square filled with coffins in protest over Italy’s workplace deaths

A thousand coffins filled one of Rome's most famous squares on Tuesday as a trade union made a powerful statement on Italy's high number of deaths in accidents at work.

Rome square filled with coffins in protest over Italy's workplace deaths

“Every year, one thousand people go to work and don’t come home,” read a large sign displayed next to the 1,041 cardboard coffins set up around the obelisk in the centre of the Piazza del Popolo.

“Zero is still too far away,” read another sign in the square as curious tourists took snapshots.

Last year, 1,041 people died in workplace accidents in Italy.

“We brought these coffins here to raise awareness, to remind everyone of the need to act, to not forget those who have lost their lives,” Pierpaolo Bombardini, general secretary of the UIL union behind the protest told AFPTV.

The protest was also intended “to ask the government and politicians to do something concrete to prevent these homicides” he added.

“Because these are homicides. When safety rules are violated, they are not accidents, but homicides.”

Cardboard coffins fill Rome’s Piazza del Popolo on March 19th in a protest by the Italian Labor Union (UIL) intended to draw public attention to the number of deaths at work in Italy. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)

Fatal accidents in the workplace regularly make headlines in the Italian press, each time sparking a debate on risk prevention. Most recently a concrete structure collapsed on the construction site of a supermarket in Florence last month, killing five people working at the site.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denounced it as “another story… of people who go out to work, who simply go out to do their job, and do not come home”.

Bombardini called for an increase in the number of inspections and inspectors.

“Companies that violate safety standards must be closed down,” he added. According to Eurostat’s most recent statistics, from 2021, on EU-wide workplace fatalities, Italy had 3.17 deaths per 100,000 workers.

That was above the European average of 2.23 per 100,000 works but behind France at 4.47 and Austria at 3.44.

The European Union’s three worst-faring countries are Lithuania, Malta and Latvia, while work-related fatalities are lowest in the Netherlands, Finland and Germany.

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