By Helena Smolak and Mauro Orru


Rescuers in Italy were searching for four missing workers Wednesday after an explosion at a hydroelectric power plant owned by Rome-based energy group Enel killed at least three people.

A spokesman for the Italian National Fire and Rescue Service said Wednesday that it had dispatched about 100 rescue workers for the search operation at the facility in Bargi on the shores of Lake Suviana, close to Bologna in northern Italy, after an underground explosion on Tuesday afternoon caused collapses and flooding.

The spokesman said the explosion was likely caused by a fire in a turbine or a transformer at the plant, leaving three people dead, five injured and four missing, with three workers unscathed.

Divers ventured into the flooded level--nine stories underground--Tuesday in search for the missing. Video footage and images shared by the fire brigade showed thick smoke rising from the facility and rescue workers inside the premises, with wires hanging from the damaged walls and ceiling.

Enel Green Power, Enel's renewable arm, said in a statement Wednesday that it would continue to collaborate with authorities to ascertain the facts behind the incident.

The company said the plant was undergoing efficiency and improvement works that it had entrusted to Siemens, ABB and Voith in 2022. Enel Green Power said generation facilities testing was underway when the accident occurred.

Representatives for Siemens and Siemens Energy acknowledged the accident but didn't provide further details. A spokeswoman for ABB said the company was aware of the presence of an ABB employee onsite when the incident occurred, adding that it would provide more information when available. Voith didn't respond to a request for comment.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a post on X late Tuesday that she was following the situation closely and expressed her sympathies to the families of the victims.


Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com and Helena Smolak at helena.smolak@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-10-24 0927ET