Breno: road worker injured after falling down a slope while cutting scrub

A road maintenance worker was injured on Thursday morning in Breno. The man was carrying out cleaning work and cutting back scrub along the cantonal road.

According to initial information gathered by RescueMedia, for reasons still to be established the worker lost his balance and fell down a slope. The alarm was raised at around 11 a.m.

Paramedics from the Croce Verde of Lugano attended the scene and provided first aid. The man was then taken to the emergency department for further checks. His injuries are described as moderate and, again according to initial information, his life is not thought to be in danger.

Police also attended the scene to carry out the checks needed to reconstruct exactly what happened. No details were released about the injured man's identity or the company he worked for.

Summer work on narrow verges

Mowing and cutting along mountain roads often takes place on narrow verges, with the slope immediately beside the carriageway. Those handling brushcutters and chainsaws do so while balancing on sloping ground, at times close to traffic that keeps moving.

In the canton this work is concentrated in the summer months, when vegetation grows fastest and risks reducing visibility on bends. It is the same period in which temperatures are highest. In recent weeks construction unions had called for working hours on Ticino building sites to be adjusted during heatwaves.

Police enquiries will have to establish whether the accident was caused by ground giving way, by a wrong movement or by other circumstances. Until then the account remains the provisional one given by the emergency services.