A deadly explosion ripped through a fireworks factory in central Italy, killing a mother and her son and marking the second catastrophic blast at the family-run site in just three years, according to firefighters and a local prosecutor.
The victims “were found in the remains” of the facility in Torano di Borgorose, about 70km northeast of Rome, a fire brigade spokesperson said.
The prosecutor for Rieti province, cited by news agency ANSA, identified the dead as Simone Colle, a 30-year-old employee at the plant, and his mother, Teresa Tozzi, 60.
The same factory was hit by a deadly explosion in July 2023 that killed Mr Colle’s uncle, Franco Colle, along with Franco’s two children, Anna and Claudio.
In the latest incident, the prosecutor said the blast at the Pirotecnica Mattei factory began inside a building used to handle materials for making fireworks.
Fire brigade images from the scene showed that structure reduced to rubble and completely destroyed.
Firefighters told AFP that two other employees survived the explosion, though they did not provide details about their condition.
Following the 2023 tragedy, company owners Fabrizio and Gaetano Mattei were sentenced to four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, storing explosive material at an unauthorised site and violating labour laws.
Despite that case, the company later restarted fireworks production after obtaining a new licence.
“Given the gravity of this tragedy, we cannot accept the argument that this was just a matter of fate,” the local CGIL union said in a statement.
“It is essential to fully bring to light the causes of this explosion, to quickly determine all those responsible and to verify down to the last detail whether all health and safety rules were followed,” it added.
The Mattei name has been linked to an earlier disaster as well: another Mattei factory exploded in 1983, killing six people, including three members of the owners’ family.
