ROME — Safety rules on Italy’s construction sites must be improved, politicians and unions said, following the death of a Romanian worker who was trapped under rubble for 11 hours in Rome after the partial collapse of a medieval tower.

Octav Stroici, 66, was working on an EU-funded project to restore the Torre dei Conti, the former home of a noble papal family in the Roman Forum, when it partially collapsed twice on Monday.

He was eventually removed from the rubble but suffered cardiac arrest and died in hospital. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into possible manslaughter.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shared her “deep pain” and sent her condolences to the family for their “unspeakable suffering.”

Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said: “We mourn Octav Stroici. His heart stopped beating despite the valiant efforts of the fire brigade, who got him out of the rubble alive.”

Workplace safety has become a hot-button topic in Italy, with strikes and a national protest held earlier in the year.

In the first nine months of 2025, there were 777 reported deaths at work in Italy, around three a day, according to the National Institute for Insurance against Workplace Accidents, or INAIL. Construction workers, over-65s and foreign workers are considered particularly at risk, according to INAIL.

Among the major incidents last year, five workers died at a supermarket construction site near Florence, five maintenance workers were killed 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, of the opposition Democratic Party, said the death of Stroici “is a tragedy that affects us all and drives us to never lower our guard when it comes to safety in the workplace.”

He added: “I renew my appeal for workplace safety to be placed at the top of every political agenda and for the necessary resources to be allocated so that every worker can return home at the end of the working day.”

Another opposition party, the 5Star Movement, has called for the creation of a dedicated prosecutor’s office for safety at work.

The government last week 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 won’t reduce the number of accidents caused by hiring inexperienced temporary workers, subcontracting tenders and cutting costs.

Natale Di Cola, the leader in Rome of CGIL, Italy’s largest union, on Tuesday called for an official day of mourning, writing on social media: “Today is a day of pain and anger … Work is humanity, brotherhood and solidarity, that work must protect life and not endanger it.”

He added: “In a healthy country, Octav, at 66, would not have found himself on a construction site doing heavy, intense and dangerous work to earn a living. All this must change.”

Di Cola said safety standards at the Torre dei Conti should have been higher considering it was a public project, funded by the EU. Four other people died in workplace accidents in Italy on Monday, he said, adding: “For Octav and for all of them, we will continue to fight so that work is no longer a cause of pain and suffering.”