A 74-year-old cheese maker renowned for producing the delectable Grana Padano cheese in northern Italy met an unexpected end on Sunday evening, August 5.
Inside his Bergamo warehouse, a towering 30-foot-high shelf, filled with 15,000 cheese wheels, suddenly collapsed, landing on Giacomo Chiapparini and causing his death. The cheese wheels, each weighing about 44 pounds, poured down, burying him.
Twenty local firefighters rushed to the scene and received reinforcements from neighboring areas.
Il Messaggero, an Italian newspaper, reported that the search efforts for Chiapparini’s body continued throughout the night and into the morning, lasting over 11 hours.
The rescue specialists, like those deployed in earthquake scenarios, methodically removed the cheese wheels one by one, eventually uncovering Chiapparini’s body.
According to a close friend and neighbor, Bortolo Ghislotti, the incident unfolded when Chiapparini and his 50-year-old son Tiziano responded to an alert from a machine responsible for cleaning and rotating the cheese wheels.
The machine, sensing a slight disturbance, prompted their intervention. After resolving the machine’s issue together, Tiziano left the warehouse, leaving his father to complete the task.
Authorities remain engaged in determining the exact cause of the collapse, as well as the nature of Chiapparini’s passing—whether by crushing or asphyxiation.
The local community is united in mourning the loss of the revered cheesemaker, with funeral arrangements set for Thursday, August 10.