An investigation has been opened into
the case of an Indian farm worker who has lost both legs and an
arm in hospital at Latina south of Rome after suspected
poisoning due to prolonged contact with chemical products,
probably without adequate safety measures, investigative sources
said on Monday.
The man has been treated for the past two weeks at the cardiac
intensive care unit of the Santa Maria Goretti Hospital in the
Lazio city.
The 46-year-old was hospitalized due to a serious heart
condition.
Doctors later discovered that the worker's legs, an arm, his
nose and spleen were affected by an autoimmune vasculitis
probably caused by his immune system's reaction to being exposed
to pesticides or herbicides, without adequate protection, for as
many as three days, medical sources said.
Doctors needed to amputate his legs and one arm, they explained.
Carabinieri, finance guards and police are probing the case and
trying to determine which farm employed the Indian national, who
does not speak Italian.
Social services are trying to track down his family of origin.
Also at Latina, off-the-books 31-year-old farm labourer Satnam
Singh bled out last June after being dumped outside his hut with
an arm severed by wrapping machinery placed beside him on a
fruit picking box.
His employers were arrested for gangmastering and culpable
manslaughter last month.
The arrest warrants were served following an investigation that
was opened on June 17, on the day of the fatal accident.
The death of the Sikh farm hand has spurred outrage at
gangmastering, which is widespread in Italy, especially in the
south of the country, and modern forms of slavery.
Unions, politicians and members of the Indian community staged a
big demonstration calling for action following his death at
Latina, a Mussolini-founded new town south of Rome that is home
to thousands of migrant farm workers.
Although the number of work-related incidents decreased last
year, Italy has registered an increase in fatal workplace
accidents.
In its annual preliminary report issued last week, INAIL said
that it received 414,853 reports of work-related accidents
between January and December 2024, down by 1.9% from the 422,880
registered over the same period in 2023, based on provisional
data.
However, the national labour accidents and occupational illness
agency said the number of fatal work-related accidents had
increased to 797 in 2024 compared to the 790 recorded in 2023.
The increase in work-related deaths was mainly recorded in the
industrial sector and in services , up to 669 from 686, while
those in agriculture dropped from 107 to 102.
Overall, the highest number of fatalities on the job were
registered in the construction sector with 156 cases, transport
and warehouse storage with 111 cases, manufacturing with 101
cases, trade with 58, rental and business support services with
38, INAIL said.
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