An Italian cheesemaker was crushed to death by thousands of wheels of his own cheese. Giacomo Chiapparini, 74, of Bergamo, Italy went to check on a storage room where his wheels of Grana Padano cheese were kept when the unthinkable occurred: the shelves somehow collapsed.
Rest in cheese, Mr. Chiapparini.
At the time of his death, there were about 10 corridors of floor-to-ceiling shelves with approximately 1,600 rounds per corridor.
It is unclear how the initial collapse that led to what authorities describe as a "domino effect" occurred, leading to the cheesemaker's demise.
Carabinieri officials, along with the fire brigade and two ambulance services and other local authorities, say they were called to the scene around 9 p.m. local time on Sunday (3 p.m. ET).
It took more than 11 hours to find Chiapparini's body under the cheese rounds.
He was identified by his family, who live and work in the cheese factory, the Carabinieri spokesperson said. His funeral will be held on Thursday.
