Messina – In the Pistunina neighborhood, emergency responders recovered a second body from the rubble of the collapsed apartment building early Saturday morning. The victim was the sister of the businessman whose body had been found the previous day. Four people remain missing. About the The Collapse and the First Hours of the Rescue Operation We reported on this on Friday.
About seventy firefighters are working their way through the pile of rubble shift after shift, assisted by search dogs, drones, and specialists in building collapses. They are searching for two more family members, a domestic worker from Sri Lanka who was staying with them, and a 20-year-old saleswoman who was working on the first floor in a store. The rescue operation is delicate: the remaining structure is considered unstable, and every step must be secured.
What Might Have Caused the House Collapse in Messina
The Carabinieri are leading the investigation. Contrary to what was initially suspected, there is now strong evidence pointing to a structural failure of the building. Experts are focusing on renovation work carried out on the commercial space on the ground floor; the question is whether load-bearing walls were weakened during that work. The explosion theory, which the mayor had initially mentioned, has thus taken a back seat, though it has not been definitively ruled out.
The situation remains tense for local residents. Several neighboring buildings have been evacuated as a precaution, and structural engineers are assessing their stability. The city has kept its crisis response team on standby and has provided emergency shelter. It is unclear how long the search will take—emergency responders expect it will take several more days to completely clear the pile of rubble.
