Three workers were killed in an accident at a supermarket construction site near Florence, Italy, on Friday morning, according to authorities.
Three more workers were injured, while two were considered missing as of Friday afternoon.
The accident happened when a reinforced concrete beam toppled over a slab of a pre-fabricated building, which then collapsed.
Local authorities said about 50 firefighters were still searching for the missing workers but feared the death toll of the incident could climb.
According to the president of the Tuscany region, Eugenio Giani, there were about 50 workers on the site at the time of the accident.
The three injured workers were pulled out from the rubble of the collapsed building and taken to local hospitals. They were later said to be in serious condition.
According to Italian media, the three injured workers are all from Romania. They are reportedly aged 37, 48 and 51.
The supermarket under construction is part of Italy's Esselunga chain.
The construction site is now the site of police investigation and Florence officials have launched an investigation for manslaughters, though no suspect has been named yet.
The incident has rattled Italy, which has recently suffered another high-profile, deadly accident involving workers.
In late August, five rail workers were killed after being hit by a train going at 160 km while doing scheduled maintenance work on the railway.
As per data mentioned by Italy's news agency ANSA, there were about 1,000 reported worker deaths in Italy over 2023.
