A HERO lift engineer has been tragically crushed in a horrific accident as he tried to save a woman trapped inside.
Antonio Pistone, 31, had been working in between the lift cabin and a floor of a block of flats when the lift suddenly started to move.
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The brave engineer had climbed into the lift shaft below the cabin as he attempted to carry out the repair work.
But the lift suddenly switched back to normal and started moving, crushing Antonio’s body in the process.
Firefighters were quickly rushed out to the two-storey building in Aci Sant’Antonio, Sicily, where they were able to free Antonio’s body from the lift shaft.
Paramedics arrived shortly after, but Antonio was pronounced dead at the scene.
The crew of firefighters were able finish the repair work and free the trapped woman, who was uninjured but emotionally shaken.
The unnamed woman was taken to hospital to deal with the shock of having been trapped for so long and from learning that Antonio had died trying to save her.
A spokesperson for the Italian General Confederation of Labour in nearby Catania said: “The exact dynamics of the event are not known, but one thing is certain.
“It’s unacceptable to lose a life due to a lack of safety conditions that should always be ensured.”
Antonio was well known and loved in his home town of Catania.
One friend took to social media to express her grief, writing: “Someone like you wasn’t supposed to leave this world. You were the life of the party, spreading joy wherever you went.
“We shared 10 years of friendship and good times.
“Goodbye, my friend. I will never forget all the times you cheered me up.
“Have a safe journey. You’ll always be in my heart.
“Make the angels dance up there too.”
Another friend added: “I can’t believe I won’t receive your nightclub ads anymore, and I’d reply, ‘Jeez, Pistone, you know I’m not coming, what’s the point?’
“And you would reply laughing, ‘I know, but I send them to everyone.’”
Antonio is survived by his parents.
Just four years ago, Lewis McFarlin, 24, was crushed to death whilst trying to repair a lift at a Müller Yogurt factory in Shropshire.
The company Lewis worked for was fined £200,000 following a Health and Safety Executive probe into his death at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
Investigators said Lift Monitoring Systems Ltd had failed to cover the gap which Lewis was trapped in – and that he would not have died if it had done so properly.
The firm pleaded guilty to failing to discharge the duty imposed on it by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
