Eight bodies pulled from collapsed building in Italy

ROME: Rescuers said Saturday that they had recovered the bodies of eight people missing after an apartment block collapsed near the Italian city of Naples.

Firefighters and volunteers have been sifting through the rubble since early Friday after two floors of the four-storey block in the town of Torre Annunziata collapsed at around 6:30 am (0430 GMT).

The last body was found early Saturday after teams searched through the night, often using their bare hands.

Local media reports said the victims included the municipal architect in charge of security checks for public and private buildings in the area of some 40,000 inhabitants at the foot of Mount Vesuvius.

His wife and 27-year-old son were also killed in the collapse, which occurred in the part of the building where bedrooms were located.

A couple with two children, aged 8 and 14, were also killed, along with a 65-year-old woman who lived alone.

Witnesses said a freight train passed on the neighbouring railway track just before the building collapsed, while others noted that renovation works had been under way on the lower floors.

The prosecutors’ office in Torre Annunziata has opened an inquiry over suspected negligence, but no cause for the collapse has yet been determined.