Italian man, 74, crushed to death after cheese wheels from his own factory fall on him

The rescuers had to move the cheese wheels by hand and it took them about 12 hours to find Giacomo Chiapparini’s body. (Representative Image)

A 74-year-old man was crushed to death after cheese wheels from his own warehouse fell on him. Giacomo Chiapparini, the ownner of a cheese factory, was buried under the wheels after a shelf broke at his warehouse in northern Lombardy region on Sunday.

When the shelf broke, it created a “domino” effect and brought down thousands of cheese wheels, firefighter Antonio Dusi from Bergamo told AFP. The rescuers had to move the cheese wheels by hand and it took them about 12 hours to find Chiapparini’s body.

He was identified by his family who live and work at the factory, according to CNN. His funeral will be held on Thursday.

The warehouse, which is located in Romano di Lombardia near Bergamo, contained a total of 25,000 wheels of “Grana Padano”, a cheese which is very popular in Italy and resembles “Parmesan”.

Chiapparini was checking on the ripening wheels which were stored on metal shelves, the highest of which stood at 10 metres (33 feet).

According to Al Jazeera, Chiapparini’s warehouse produces more than 15,000 cheese wheels every year or roughly 50 per day.

It is not clear how the first shelf collapsed but a malfunction or wear and tear are likely to be the reason.