At least four people have died and five others are missing after an explosion at a hydroelectric plant in northern Italy. It is still unknown what caused the explosion – which occurred in a power plant on Lake Suviana, near the city of Bologna – but the first information points to a fire in a generator at the power plant. The Government delegation in Bologna assures that three other people have been injured.
Everything happened at the Bargi hydroelectric plant, in the town of Camugnano, owned by the Enel company, which is the most powerful in the Emilia-Romagna region. “We are still trying to find out what happened, there are also no certainties about the number of injured and missing. “I think they were doing maintenance work at the plant,” the Government delegate in Bologna, Attilio Visconte, told the local media.
The energy group Enel Green Power, a subsidiary specialized in renewable energies within the giant Enel, has explained in a statement that a fire has been recorded that has affected a transformer at the hydroelectric plant, pointing out that “all safety measures have been activated.” security” to allow “correct evacuation of personnel” at the site. According to what the employees told the firefighters, they were carrying out maintenance work to fix a pump that had stopped working.
Rescue operations are extremely complicated because everything happened thirty meters deep. According to the commander of the Bologna firefighters, Calogero Turturici, the rooms in the explosion are submerged. “There is a lot of smoke to access the premises, we are also trying to eliminate it to reduce temperatures, and then when we reach the level of the incident we will be able to see what has happened with greater precision,” he indicated.
“A disaster, a disaster, an alternator has exploded on level eight. I have reached level seven, underwater, and can’t go any further. There are three people below and continuous explosions. It’s impressive, my legs are shaking,” said one of the firefighters.
About seventy firefighters from Ravenna, Pavullo and Bologna have traveled there, in addition to the police and five ambulances. Firefighters have already helped the three injured, who have suffered severe burns. Enel Green Power has pointed out that the Bargi structure dam has not suffered damage, and for the moment production has been stopped, without causing any impact on the supply of electrical service either locally or nationally.
“I follow with apprehension the terrible news about the explosion that occurred in a hydroelectric plant in the artificial basin of Suviana,” said the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. “All my closeness and that of the Government to the families of the victims and the injured who have been involved,” he added. “A thank you to the firefighters who intervened quickly, to the rescue teams and to all those who are working during these hours in the search for the missing.”
