A winemaker in Italy died after trying to save his colleague who had passed out in a wine vat during the fermentation process, as per a report in the New York Post. The 46-year-old man, Marco Bettolini, drowned in the vat after he became dizzy from the poisonous gases. He eventually lost his balance due to the fumes and fell into the fermenting brew while saving 31-year-old Alberto Pin.
As per the outlet, Mr Pin entered the autoclave of the vat at the Ca'di Rajo winery in San Polo di Piave, in the city of Treviso, around 2pm on September 14 after realising the taps were not working properly. He inhaled some fumes and started feeling sick. Noticing the same, Mr Bettolini joined to help him, however, he inhaled some toxic fumes himself. He fell down a few feet and hit his head at the bottom, which still had a small amount of wine. The 46-year-old was rushed to a hospital and was in a "medically-induced coma after having his heart restarted".
Neither of the two men were wearing breathing apparatuses or safety harnesses during the "huge tragedy", according to CNN. Further, the fire brigade issued a statement and concluded that "the man in his forties was trying to save his colleague who had fainted from carbon dioxide fumes while carrying out maintenance work".
"We are overwhelmed by pain, for us they are two brothers, two sons. My thoughts go to these two men, who grew up with us, and their families. We pray that the young man who was injured recovers as soon as possible" Simone Cecchetto, owner of Ca' di Rajo winery, said in a statement to CNN.
The whole incident was recorded by CCTV installed at the building, however, the footage is yet to be released.
Mr Bettolini worked at the company since 2018 and was a winemaker and cellar manager there. As per his LinkedIn profile, he also worked as a consultant for various wine companies and also as an agronomist, specialising in soil management and crop production
