Italian cheesemaker killed by falling wheels of cheese

Giacomo Chiapparini, a northern Italian cheese producer, was fatally crushed by toppling cheese wheels in his Bergamo warehouse on Sunday (6 July), reports NBC News.

Around 15,000 Grana Padano, Parmesan-style hard cheese, wheels became deadly projectiles when a towering shelf, bearing wheels weighing about 20kg each, suddenly collapsed, burying Chiapparini beneath the dairy avalanche.

Prompted by an alarm from a cheese wheel-cleaning machine, Giacomo and his son Tiziano rushed to the warehouse to rectify the issue.

“These machines clean and rotate the wheels, so when they find them even slightly out of place, they send a warning,” Bortolo Ghislotti, a friend and neighbour said.

Ghislotti said that after they fixed the problem, Chiapparini’s son left the warehouse while his father re-started the machine. Seconds later, everything fell on him. 

Despite the swift response of local authorities and emergency services, Giacomo’s life could not be saved as the recovery operation proved intricate and challenging due to the massive cheese wheel debris.

An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the shelf collapse and the specific circumstances leading to Giacomo’s untimely demise.