Four Italian men between the ages of 40 and 70 died while producing wine from their family vineyard, according to Italy’s fire brigade.
The relatives died one after the other in a cellar in Paola, in the province of Calabria, as they desperately tried to rescue the first man to succumb to the gases.
The officials investigating the incident said that the freak accident was caused by toxic fumes while producing wine in their family vineyard during an annual winemaking event.
Paramedics were unable to revive Giacomo and Valerio Scofano, aged 70 and 50, as well as father and son Santino and Massimo Carnevale, aged 70 and 45. They died due to lack of sufficient air ventilation, according to Prosecutor Pierpaolo Bruni, who said an investigation is underway, The Telegraph reported.
One of the victims, Valerio Scofano, was not supposed to be in the shed, having been condemned to house arrest in his home several miles away for stalking a former lover.
They were found on the floor of a small shed where they were fermenting grapes without proper ventilation. The local prosecutor, Pierpaolo Bruni, said that an inquiry into the deaths would be opened, but that the room was “not sufficiently ventilated” for the high level of carbon dioxide the fermentation process produces.
One of the older men went down into the cellar to stir the wine and another man had called out for help but was later found dead near the exit of the cellar, according to a statement from the Carabinieri, Italy’s military force, according to a report.
It is not known which family member lost consciousness first.
Paola Mayor Robert Perrotta said their tight-knit community was shaken with “enormous sorrow,” a report said.
A 36-year-old woman was the only person found alive. She had reportedly passed out near the entrance of the cellar, was resuscitated, and was brought to a local hospital, where she is recovering.
Source: InsideEdition
