A cheesemaker and dairy farmer has been crushed to death by thousands of cheese wheels in the northern Lombardy region of Italy.
74-year-old Giacomo Chiapparini was inspecting the maturity of grana padano cheese being stored at a facility on Sunday last when the tragic incident occurred.
Such was the mass of cheese that fell on Chiapparini, it took firefighters a total of twelve hours to recover his body.
Italian authorities understand that a metal shelving unit bearing the weight of the cheese wheels collapsed while Chiapparini was examining the cheese, setting off a domino effect across the warehouse.
Each wheel of grana padano cheese stored at the facility is understood to weigh roughly 40 kilogrammes, with the highest located over 10 metres from ground level.
Speaking to Agence France-Presse, local firefighter Antonio Dusi said that rescuers had to "move the cheeses and the shelves by hand."
A full investigation by Italian authorities is expected to take place.
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