A Turin fire chief had a fatal heart attack Thursday as he was about to be questioned by prosecutors investigating a steelworks blaze that killed seven workers in the northern Italian city.
Giorgio Mazzini, 67, was head of the Turin fire brigade and deputy head of the city's rescue services.
The disaster at the ThyssenKrupp plant on December 5-6 revived concern over deaths in the workplace.
Solidarity strikes and other initiatives were staged across Italy with workers demanding new laws and stricter inspections.
Parliament passed new laws on workplace security - envisaging three-year jail sentences for the worst failures - in August this year but they have yet to be implemented.
Local prosecutors are investigating the accident to see what fire equipment was on hand and what sort of emergency training workers had.
The German industrial conglomerate has denied charges of failing to keep adequate fire-fighting systems in place at the plant.
