Romanian Worker Dies in Rome Tower Collapse

A Romanian construction worker died in a Rome hospital after being rescued from the rubble of a partially collapsed medieval tower undergoing renovation in the city's historic center, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

Octav Stroici, 66, had been trapped for 11 hours beneath debris inside the 13th-century Torre dei Conti when firefighters finally extracted him late Monday. He succumbed to injuries shortly after arrival at Umberto I hospital, suffering a cardiac arrest en route, according to health officials cited by Italian news agency ANSA. The collapse occurred around 10:30 a.m. local time near the Colosseum along Via dei Fori Imperiali, a major tourist artery.

The incident began when the tower's southern central buttress gave way, causing an underlying sloped base to fall and sending clouds of dust into the air. Eleven workers were on site at the time. A second partial collapse struck about 90 minutes later, damaging the stairwell and roof, as rescuers attempted an initial extraction using a first-floor window and ladders. Firefighters retreated amid falling debris, deploying a drone for assessment before using a crane to insert tubes that vacuumed rubble from a second-floor...