Guard at Winter Olympic construction site dies in nighttime sub-freezing temperatures
Jan 11, 2026, 5:24 AM
FILE - People take photos in front of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympics rings, in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
MILAN (AP) — A guard at a construction site near a 2026 Winter Olympic venue in the mountain resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo died during a frigid overnight shift, authorities confirmed on Saturday.
Italy’s Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini called for a full investigation into the circumstances of the 55-year-old worker’s death.
Italian media reported that the death occurred on Thursday while the worker was on duty at a construction site near Cortina’s ice arena. Temperatures that night plunged to minus 12 degrees Celsius (10.4 degrees Fahrenheit.)
The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics are scheduled for Feb. 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.
