Building collapse in Messina kills one, traps five under mixed-use rubble
A structural failure in a mixed-use commercial and residential building in southern Italy has killed a local business owner and left five others missing, highlighting the ongoing safety challenges of aging urban infrastructure.
A two-storey mixed-use building collapsed in the Italian city of Messina on Thursday, killing a local businessman and leaving five people missing beneath the rubble. Emergency services recovered the body of Carmelo Leone and transported it to the mortuary at the city's university hospital.
Firefighters are urgently searching for five other individuals after relatives raised the alarm about being unable to contact those inside. The missing include Leone's two sisters, Sara and Rosa, his husband Santino Magazzù, and a Sri Lankan national named Lhairu Warnakulasuriya.
A fifth missing person, Alessandra Frazzica, was working as a shop assistant on the first floor when the structure gave way. The ground and first floors of the property housed several commercial enterprises, including a supermarket, while the second floor contained four residential apartments.
The disaster underscores the structural vulnerabilities present in older European mixed-use properties, where ground-floor retail spaces support local commerce beneath residential units. Local media indicated the structure shook violently before falling, pointing toward a catastrophic structural failure rather than an external blast.
Local authorities have dismissed early speculation that an exploding gas pipe caused the disaster. Investigators are now examining the structural integrity of the aging building to determine the precise cause of the sudden failure.
Emergency teams face severe complications from potential secondary explosions at the site. Officials warn that pockets of flammable gas trapped under the heavy debris might ignite if suddenly exposed to oxygen during the clearance process.
To accelerate the search, emergency crews are tracking mobile phone signals to pinpoint the exact locations of those still trapped. Rescuers are working against the clock, as the initial hours following a collapse are critical for the survival of anyone buried in the wreckage.
Three people sustained injuries in the incident and were pulled from the collapsed site. Davide Lambiate, one of the survivors, described the terrifying moments as the structure gave way around him.
Recalling the suffocating conditions beneath the debris, the injured survivor detailed his ordeal. "Until the very last moment, I thought I was going to die," Lambiate said, adding, "I was breathing in dust and tiny particles, not air."
