Worker dies after spending 11 hours trapped under rubble of collapsed medieval tower in Rome

Crowds cheered when crews freed the 66-year-old man and stretchered him into an ambulance.

Sadly, the man is understood to have gone into cardiac arrest on the way to hospital.

Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni has sent her condolences to the man's family.

The 13th century building, the Torre dei Conti in the Imperial Forums near the Colosseum, collapsed during renovation work.

Three other workers inside were evacuated, with one taken to hospital in critical condition.

Hundreds of tourists had assembled to watch as firefighters used a mobile ladder to bring a stretcher to the upper level of the Torre dei Conti during the first rescue attempt.

Suddenly, another part of the structure partially collapsed, sending up a cloud of debris and forcing firefighters to quickly descend on the ladder.

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Queen Paglinawan was working nearby when she heard two loud noises in quick succession.

"I was working and then I heard something falling, and then I saw the tower collapse in a diagonal way," the 27-year-old said as yet another collapse occurred in the background.

German student Viktoria Braeu, 18, passed by the scene just as the partial collapse occurred during the firefighters' rescue.

"We were just at the Colosseum... and we were just walking to get some food... And then we were like, 'It's probably not long until it's going to go down', and then it just started erupting," she said.

The Torre dei Conti was built in the 13th century by Pope Innocent III as a residence for his family.