Worker dies after concrete stack collapses at Brenner Base Tunnel site

A 48-year-old Polish worker has died after a stack of concrete elements toppled at the Brenner Base Tunnel construction site near Steinach am Brenner, ORF reported. The accident happened outside the tunnel on Monday morning, and the man died of his injuries at Innsbruck clinic overnight into Tuesday.

The reason the stack fell is not yet known. The worker was trapped beneath the concrete elements. Colleagues lifted them with a forklift and freed him, but he had suffered life-threatening injuries.

A construction worker was also seriously injured on the South Tyrolean side of the project on Sunday. Media reports said a delivery van struck a stationary crane truck for an unknown reason, trapping the driver’s legs.

Several other serious accidents have occurred at the construction site. Two workers died in 2024. In spring 2025, three serious accidents happened within a week: one worker died after being run over by a lorry, another was found seriously injured after becoming trapped between two concrete segments, and a third was struck by a 300-kilogram stone. The most recent serious accident before this week was in September, when a worker was hit by a transport train.