A guard has died during a freezing overnight shift at a construction site linked to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, authorities confirmed on Saturday.
Italy’s Infrastructure Minister, Matteo Salvini, has demanded a full investigation into the 55-year-old worker’s death. Italian media reports indicate the fatality occurred on Thursday while the individual was on duty near Cortina’s ice arena. Temperatures plummeted to minus 12 degrees Celsius (10.4 degrees Fahrenheit) that night.
The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics are set to take place from February 6-22.
The construction site was not one overseen by Simico, the governmental company responsible for Olympic infrastructure, the company said in a statement expressing its condolences.
Cortina city officials said they were “deeply saddened and troubled by the death.’’
Cortina will host curling, sliding and women’s Alpine skiing.
