Two workers die from wastewater gases

RIVA LIGURE, Italy, June 16 (UPI) -- Toxic gases in a wastewater tank were responsible for the deaths of two Italian workers, authorities in Riva Ligure, Italy, say.

The workers, aged 36 and 40, died Monday in the small town after inhaling the gases without wearing the proper safety equipment, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Police said a third worker was hospitalized after trying to rescue the first two men. ANSA said the men were working for a subcontractor hired by city authorities to perform maintenance on water purification systems in Italy's Imperia province.

The deaths rekindled a long-standing debate over worker safety in Italy, the news agency said, sparking memories of seven worker deaths in the ThyssenKrupp factory fire of 2007. The country's previous government passed a series of get-tough laws last year that mandated hefty fines for employers who neglected safety.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right government in March announced several amendments to that decree over the objections of unions and opposition critics who say the changes will dilute the law's effectiveness, ANSA said.