Italy dam blast leaves several dead and missing

At least three people were killed after an explosion at a hydroelectric power plant in central Italy, a local mayor said on Tuesday.

Marco Masinara, the mayor of the nearby town of Camugnano, said three dead bodies had been found and four were missing. 

Three others were "badly hurt" and had been taken to the hospital. He added that the figures were "being updated."

Firefighters rescued three injured people from the plant and were searching for missing people after the explosion in the early afternoon, they said on social network X, formerly Twitter.

What do we know about the explosion?

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion at the dam on Lake Suviana, which is located between the cities of Bologna and Florence.

The dam is managed by the energy company Enel.

Enel said that a fire had broken out on one of its transformers in early afternoon. The company said it had evacuated workers from the site and was coordinating with rescue workers from the fire department.

 Masinara said the explosion happened nine levels below ground during work on turbines.

The dam operator said that the dam basin had not been damaged and that the plant was offline at the time of the incident so there was no impact on electricity supply.

Lake Suviana is located in a regional park in the Apennines at an altitude of just under 500 meters. It was formed by the construction of the dam in 1928 and 1932.

dh/wmr (AP, dpa, Reuters)