'Pain and fury': death of Romanian Octav Stroici under the rubble of Rome's Torre dei Conti sparks tough calls on a hot topic in Italy

“In a sane country, Octav, at 66, would not have found himself on a construction site, doing hard, intense and dangerous work to earn a living,” the leader of a major Italian union said Tuesday, Politico and Corriere Della Sera reported.

Octav Stroici, a 66-year-old Romanian, was working on an EU-funded project to restore Torre dei Conti, the former residence of a noble papal family, when the building partially collapsed twice.

He was eventually pulled from the rubble after 11 hours, but suffered a cardiac arrest and died in hospital. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into possible manslaughter.

Many Italian politicians reacted quickly amid the wave of emotion generated by the tragedy.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her “deep sorrow” and offered her condolences to the family for their “indescribable suffering”.

“We mourn Octav Stroici. His heart stopped beating despite the brave efforts of the firefighters, who pulled him alive from the rubble,” said the Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli.

The mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, decided to proclaim Wednesday, November 5, a day of mourning, in tribute to Stroici's death. Flags will be flown at half mast on all municipal buildings, as a sign of mourning.

Beyond condolences, many voices, including on social media, drew attention to a pressing issue: worker safety.

A matter of life and death

Workplace safety has become a hot topic in Italy, with strikes and nationwide protests organized at the beginning of the year, writes Politico.

In the first nine months of 2025, 777 workplace deaths were reported in Italy, about three per day, according to the National Institute of Insurance against Occupational Accidents (INAIL).

Construction workers, people over 65 and foreign workers are considered at particular risk, according to INAIL.

Last year, five workers died on a supermarket site near Florence, five maintenance workers died in Sicily after inhaling poisonous fumes at a sewage treatment plant, and seven workers died in an explosion at a hydroelectric plant outside Bologna.

Francesco Boccia, a member of the opposition Democratic Party, said Stroici's death “is a tragedy that affects us all and prompts us to never let our guard down when it comes to workplace safety.”

“I renew my call for workplace safety to be placed at the top of the political agenda and for resources to be allocated so that every worker can go home at the end of the working day,” he added.

Another opposition party, the 5 Star Movement, has requested the creation of a specialized prosecutor's office in workplace safety.

“In a sane country, Octav, at 66 years old, would not have found himself on a construction site”

Last week, the government approved measures worth €900 million to improve workplace safety, including incentives for responsible employers, as well as more training, inspections and fines.

But unions said the measures would not reduce the number of accidents caused by hiring inexperienced temporary workers, subcontracting tenders and cutting costs.

Natale Di Cola, the leader of Rome's CGIL, Italy's largest union, called for an official day of mourning on Tuesday.

“Today is a day of pain and anger. Work means humanity, brotherhood and solidarity, work must protect life and not endanger it,” he wrote in a message on social media.

“In a sane country, Octav, at 66, would not have found himself on a construction site doing hard, intense and dangerous work for a living. All this must change,” Di Cola said.

Di Cola said safety standards at Torre dei Conti should have been higher given that it was a public project, funded by the EU.

Four other people died in work-related accidents in Italy on Monday, he said, adding: “For Octav and for everyone else, we will continue to fight so that work is no longer a cause of pain and suffering.”

A seven million euro project

Corriere Della Sera writes that it will now be the responsibility of the Prosecutor's Office to determine what happened at the scene of the accident, based on the reports sent by the Carabinieri and the Labor Inspectorate.

Workers, company technicians and numerous witnesses were already questioned on Monday.

The prefect of Rome, writes the Italian daily, immediately set up a crisis center under the umbrellas of the restaurants located right in front of the tower, in the same restaurants where, a short time before, the customers had lunch.

The tower where the tragedy happened had been closed since 2007, and one of the largest grants from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) “Caput Mundi” was allocated for its restoration.

The project has a total budget of 6,900,000 euros and includes structural strengthening, restoration, installation of electrical systems, lighting, water supply installations, removal of architectural barriers, creation of a museum dedicated to the latest phases of the Imperial Forums, construction of a service center for the central archaeological area, a conference hall and exhibition spaces, as well as a visitor route to the tower and underground area.

“Currently”, “the first phase of the works, which started in June 2025, is underway, at a cost of around 400,000 euros, including asbestos removal and preliminary works. Before the start of the works, structural studies, load tests and sampling were carried out to check the static suitability of the structure, which confirmed the necessary safety conditions to continue the work on the floors,” says an official document quoted by Courier.

Stroici worked for the company EdilErica, which specializes in construction sites and work on historic buildings, the Italian daily also writes, adding that it remains to be seen whether the renovation work was carried out in accordance with workplace safety measures.

One year until retirement

Octav Stroici was 66 years old and originally from Suceava. The Romanian lived with his wife and daughter in Monterotondo, near Rome. He was part of the team of workers working on the restoration of the Torre dei Conti tower, part of which collapsed on Monday morning.

“Hurry up, I can't move, I can't take it anymore, save me,” were Octav's last words, spoken out of the darkness to the rescuers who had still managed to lower an oxygen mask to him.

A few words that, as the hours passed, encouraged the firefighters who tirelessly tried to reach Octav, digging even with their bare hands.

After 11 hours of anguish, a glimmer of hope appeared when the Romanian was pulled from the rubble of the Torre dei Conti tower, his injured body finally being pulled out by rescuers through a very narrow hole.

But, in the prolonged applause for the rescuers coming down from the crane, Octav Stroici's condition immediately proved to be very serious. His wife, Mariana, had been assisting the rescue operations all day, praying. Next to her was her daughter, Alina, who had arrived from Puglia, notes the Italian press.

But Octav's life hung by a thread. He was brought out alive but is in critical condition. As soon as he was loaded into the ambulance, Octav received cardiac massage. “Let's hope,” was the only word the medical team on the ambulance said to him.

Pulling Stroici from the rubble was described as an exceptional achievement by firefighters who worked late into the night. Rescue teams used drones and debris removal machines to try to reach him, despite the risk of the fragile tower collapsing further.

“One wrong move and it all comes crashing down,” admitted one of the exhausted rescuers, pointing to the tower's interior.

According to the Italian media, Octav had only one year left until retirement. He could have applied for unemployment, but instead he continued to work.