An Italian man died after being crushed by thousands of large wheels of a Parmesan-style hard cheese, firefighters revealed on Monday.
Giacomo Chiapparini, 74, was fatally trapped beneath the cheeses, each of which weighed approximately 90 pounds. The incident unfolded when a shelving unit gave way inside his warehouse situated in the northern Lombardy region on Sunday. The ensuing cascade effect led to the collapse of numerous wheels, recounted firefighter Antonio Dusi from Bergamo, speaking to AFP.
Rescue teams “had to move the cheeses and the shelves by hand,” Dusi said, adding that it took around 12 hours to ultimately locate Chiapparini.
Chiapparini had been inspecting the maturing wheels, stored on metal shelving units. The tallest of these shelves reached a height of 33 feet.
A local resident remarked to Italian media that the collapse sounded like “thunder,” as reported by BBC News.
Speaking to Italian media outlets, a neighbor depicted Chiapparini as an individual who was “very supportive… and generous.” Tragically, it was noted that he had suffered the loss of a child decades prior.
