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Rescue workers looked for possible injuries with sniffer dogs
Photo: Salvatore Laporta / IPA / imago images
After the collapse of a parking lot on a hospital site in the southern Italian city of Naples, the fire department was looking for injuries.
In the early morning part of the parking lot had collapsed and pulled several vehicles away.
Initially, smoke rose from the 20 meter deep throat, as pictures of the fire brigade showed.
According to the Naples Health Authority, the power supply in the hospital was interrupted.
However, generators would continue to operate.
A building in which, among other things, Covid 19 patients spent their quarantine time, was cleared because the electricity and hot water supply could not be guaranteed.
Pictures and videos on Twitter also showed the use of rescuers on site.
They roped down into the deep hole and had sniffer dogs search for injuries.
According to media reports and statements from politicians, there had been an explosion before the parking lot collapsed.
The Ansa news agency quoted a fire department commander as saying that the area was being secured to prevent another collapse.
Why the parking lot collapsed is unclear.
The authorities suspected a connection with the nature of the soil.
The public prosecutor's office started an investigation.
During the first corona wave last spring, the hospital was a center for treating Covid-19 patients.
At the time of the accident on Friday, only six patients were being treated with Covid-19.
"Now we have to do geological surveys and see how other parts of the area are doing," said the regional president of Campania, whose capital is Naples, according to Ansa.
Italy's Agriculture Minister Teresa Bellanova described it as "incomprehensible" that such a hole in the ground could open up near a public facility.
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lmd / dpa