Apartment building collapses in Italy; 2 are confirmed dead

Reporting from MILAN, Italy  — Rescue workers have identified two bodies in the rubble of a five-story apartment building that partially collapsed south of Naples early Friday, firefighters said.

Crews have been digging mostly by hand to find seven people reported missing in the residential building along a passenger railway line in the seaside town of Torre Annunziata, three miles from the Pompeii archaeological site.

The cause of the collapse remains unknown, but authorities were investigating whether it was related to renovation work in the building.

Officials had said seven people, including two children, were missing. An elderly resident who was believed to be inside later was accounted for.

Witnesses said there was no explosion before the collapse sometime after 6 a.m., but that a train had just passed, according to the Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, Italy’s news service.

Images show the structure partially collapsed, revealing the interior of some apartments. Some 80 rescue workers were removing rubble, mostly by hand, passing it out in buckets, as firefighters on long, retractable ladders checked the stability of the section that remained intact.

Firefighters asked for silence among onlookers during the search in hopes of hearing survivors. The work has paused periodically to allow dogs to check the scene.

The train line that passes Mount Vesuvius and connects Naples with such tourist sites as Pompeii and the Amalfi coast was closed temporarily after the collapse. The Italian railway said in a statement that the vibrations from passing trains have no impact on the stability of adjacent buildings.

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UPDATES:

10:55 a.m.: This article was updated with information about the death toll.

This article was originally published at 6:50 a.m.