Pomigliano d'Arco – Vasile Bujac, the 31-year-old Moldovan worker who was caught in the inferno that broke out Saturday morning at the Motortecno car scrapyard, died.
Transported in critical condition to the Cardarelli Hospital in Naples with devastating burns over 70% of his body, Bujac passed away last night, leaving behind a wife and two young children, still of preschool age.
His death, announced in a statement by the ASL Napoli 1, refocuses attention on a continuing tragedy: workplace accidents in Italy, which in the first half of 2025 alone caused over 500 deaths, a worrying 7% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
The event, surreal in its everyday tragedy, unfolded around 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, in an industrial area on the outskirts of Pomigliano d'Arco, amid gray warehouses and the incessant roar of demolition machinery. Vasile Bujac, a regular mechanic specializing in dismantling vehicles for scrap, was working on an old small car when the LPG tank installed on board catastrophically failed.
Not only Bujac: two colleagues, both Ukrainian by birth – Oleh Kovalenko, 38, and Mykhailo Petrenko, 45 – who were assisting with the operations were also trapped in the inferno. Rushed to Cardarelli Hospital with third-degree burns and toxic fume inhalation, the two workers remain in critical condition in the burns unit. "They were just a few meters away, but Vasile was right on the tank: the flames hit him full-on," explained a firefighter who responded to the scene, describing scenes of chaos with screams and black smoke billowing high into the Campania sky.
The Nola firefighters, alerted immediately, put out the flames in less than an hour, but the damage was already irreparable.
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At the same time, the Carabinieri of the Castello di Cisterna Company, led by Major Pietro Barrel, have launched an investigation into negligent assault and manslaughter, placing the Motortecno company under partial lockdown. Investigators are combing through safety records, protocols for managing LPG vehicles, and the equipment used: "We want to determine whether there has been a violation of accident prevention regulations," Major Barrel stated in an official statement.
This latest tragedy is not an isolated case, but rather the echo of a national emergency that is taking on the appearance of a silent massacre. In Italy, where the world of work should be synonymous with dignity and progress, the numbers speak for themselves: in the first five months of 2025, 386 fatal accidents have already been recorded, a 4,6% increase over the previous year.
And while INAIL data for the first half of the year indicate a slight decrease in workplace accidents (-1,2%), the overall toll remains shocking, with unofficial estimates reporting over 621 victims up to July, excluding commuting accidents.
Sectors such as construction, manufacturing, and demolition services are the hardest hit: here, the precariousness of materials, rushed production, and underestimation of risks—such as the handling of hazardous gases—turn every turn into a game of Russian roulette.
The death of Vasile Bujac, who immigrated to Italy years ago to provide a better future for his family, raises bitter questions: how many more lives must be sacrificed before safety regulations—from Legislative Decree 81/2008 onward—are applied with the rigor they deserve?
The unions, from CGIL to UIL, have already announced a day of strike action in the Naples area, while Labor Minister Marina Calderone has promised "strict controls" in Campania's car wreckers. But these promises, in a country that mourns the loss of a worker every six hours, sound like a distant echo. Bujac's body will rest in the hospital chapel pending an autopsy, but the open wound in the heart of Pomigliano—and of Italy as a whole—still burns, like those flames that have not yet been extinguished.
Comments (1)
It's sad to read about another workplace accident, especially with so many deaths. Safety must be a priority, and regulations cannot continue to be neglected. We hope this tragedy leads to real and urgent changes.