Worker dies after partial collapse of medieval tower in Rome

A worker who was trapped after part of a medieval tower collapsed in the heart of Rome, has died, BBC reported citing hospital officials in the Italian capital. 

Octay Stroici was pulled free at 23:00 local time (22:00 GMT), nearly twelve hours after a section of the Torre dei Conti, on the edge of the famous Roman Forum and close to the Colosseum, gave way and trapped him beneath, according to the BBC.

His heart stopped in the ambulance, and doctors at the hospital he was rushed to were unable to save him.

The Romanian foreign ministry said Stroici was a Romanian national, as was another worker among three others pulled from the rubble. One is said to be in a critical condition.

Stroici's rescue was initially described as an exceptional feat by firefighters who had worked late into the night. Rescue teams used drones and rubble clearers to try to reach him, despite the risk that the fragile tower could collapse further.

He had been conscious and talking to the emergency workers throughout the rescue. His wife was also at the scene.

Stroici had been carrying out conservation work on the medieval tower which is part of the Roman Forum, one of this city's busiest tourist sites. But this particular building had been empty and abandoned for many years.

The Rome Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into the incident.

Efforts to rescue Stroici - reported to be in his 60s - were interrupted when a second section of the 29m (90ft) high tower began crumbling again, with bricks raining down, creating a huge cloud of dust.