Italy fireworks factory blast kills mother and son

An explosion at a fireworks factory in central Italy killed a mother and her son on Wednesday, firefighters and a local prosecutor said.

The bodies were found in the remains of the Pirotecnica Mattei facility in Torano di Borgorose, about 70 kilometres northeast of Rome, a fire brigade spokesman said. The victims were identified by the Rieti province prosecutor, cited by ANSA, as 30-year-old factory employee Simone Colle and his 60-year-old mother, Teresa Tozzi.

The prosecutor said the blast began inside a building used for handling materials for making fireworks. Fire brigade images showed the building destroyed.

Firefighters told AFP that two other employees survived the explosion, but did not give details on their condition.

The same family-owned site was hit by another explosion in July 2023 that killed Colle's uncle, Franco Colle, and Franco Colle's two children, Anna and Claudio. After that blast, company owners Fabrizio and Gaetano Mattei were sentenced to four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, storing explosive material at an unauthorised site and labour law violations. The company later resumed making fireworks with a new licence.

Local union CGIL called for the causes of Wednesday's explosion to be fully established and for checks on whether health and safety rules had been followed.

Another Mattei factory exploded in 1983, killing six people, including three members of the owners' family.