Rome [Italy], August 8 : The owner of a dairy firm died in northern Italy near Bergamo after the shelves holding 25,000 cheese wheels collapsed, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.
Rescue teams worked all night to free Giacomo Chiapparini, 74, from under the 40kg (88lb) wheels of hard Grana Padano cheese that were piling up around him.
However, the assistance arrived too late for the cheesemaker. After a 12-hour operation, a Bergamo fire brigade official reported that the cheesemaker had passed away, according to Al Jazeera.
During evening hours on Sunday, Chiapparini was working in the dairy factory's warehouse in the nearby little town of Romano di Lombardia when one of the metal racks that held the enormous cheese wheels that were ripening crashed.
The shelves, which were stacked high with cheese and reaching to the ceiling, began to fall as a result, and eventually completely buried the man, according to Bergamo fire brigade official. The body was not discovered by firefighters until early on Monday morning.
According to reports, the plant cranks out more than 15,000 wheels a year, or roughly 50 Grana Padano wheels per day, reported Al Jazeera.
Although a mechanical malfunction or wear and tear on the materials are likely to be the reason behind the accident, it is unclear how the first metal shelf collapsed.
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